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BV  4315  .S68  1887 
Stanley,  Arthur  Penrhyn, 

1815-1881. 
Sermons  for  children 


i  "''^VPS 


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ri^B^^^^'- 


■i-<-.-V 


SERMONS 
FOR  CHILDREN 


SERMONS  FOR  CHILDREN 


INCLUDING 


THE  BEATITUDES  AND  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT 


PREACHED  IN   WESTMINSTER  ABBEY 


y/ 


ARTHUR  PENRHYN   STANLEY,  D.D. 


LATE    DEAN    OK    WESTMINSTER 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
1887 
All  Rights  Reserved 


PREFACE. 

These  Sermons,  having  been  found  to  interest 
many  young  persons  into  whose  hands  they  came 
when  privately  printed,  are  now  published  in  the 
hope  that  they  may  be  of  use  to  a  wider  circle  of 
readers. 

They  have  been  rejjroduced  as  correctly  as  the 
rough  state  of  the  Author's  Manuscript  permitted  , 
but  it  is  obvious  that,  in  some  places,  either  the 
manuscript  has  been  inaccurately  deciphered,  or 
the  Preacher  supplemented  what  he  had  written  by 
additions  at  the  moment. 

The  concluding  Sermon,  on  '  The  Faithful 
Servant,'  though  not  addressed  specially  to  children, 
and  not  preached  in  the  Abbey,  seemed  from  its 
personal  and  famiHar  character  to  have  a  proper 
place  in  this  volume. 


CONTENTS. 

SERMO.V  PAGE 

I.     The  Child  Jesus    (1871)    .  .            .1 

II.     Little    Children,     love    one  another 

(1^73) 10 

III.  The  Use  of  Children     (1874)  .            .     20 

IV.  The  'Goliath'  Boys    (1875)    .  .       .     32 
V.     The  Children's  Psalms     (1876)  .            .     44 

VI.     Sick  Children    (1877)  .            .  .      ,     54 

VII.     St.  Christopher    (1878)      ,  .            .67 

VIII.     The  Children's  Creed     (1879)  .       .     76 

IX.     Talitha  Cumi     (18S0)           .  .            ,     ^7 

X.     The  Beatitudes    (1881)       .  .            '95 

XI.     The  Beatitudes    (1881)            .  .      .  104 

XII.  The  Beatitudes    (1881)       .  .            .113 

XIII.  The  Beatitudes    (1881)            .  .      .   122 

XIV.  The  Faithful  Servant    (1856)  .            .  132 


SERMONS  FOR  CHILDREN. 
I. 

THE   CHILD  JESUS. 

(December  28,  1871.) 

And  the  child  grew,  and  xvaxed strong  in  spirit,  filled  luith 
7visdom  :  and  the  grace  of  God  was  tipon  Hivi. — Luke  ii.  40. 

This  day  is  called  the  day  of  the  Holy  Innocents, 
because  it  calls  upon  us  to  remember  the  death  of 
those  little  children  who  were  killed  at  Bethlehem 
at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's  birth,  when  He  also 
was  a  little  child  like  them.  It  is  also  a  day 
famous  in  this  Abbey,  because  it  was  on  t^is  day, 
more  than  eight  hundred  years  ago,  that  this  great 
church  was  finished  by  its  first  founder.  King 
Edward  the  Confessor,  who  was  himself  an  inno- 
cent, guileless  man,  almost  like  a  little  child.  "We 
have  thought,  therefore,  that  it  might  be  good  to 
mark  this  day  by  gathering  together  here  as  many 

B 


THE   CHILD  JESUS.  serm.  i. 


children  as  could  come,  and  putting  before  them 
the  example  which  our  Saviour  set  to  all  children, 
He  having  been  Himself  a  little  child  and  a  little 
boy,  such  as  those  who  are  here  to-day.  For  this 
purpose  the  different  passages  of  Scripture  have 
been  chosen  that  have  been  sung  or  read  to- 
day ;  the  eighth  Psalm  in  order  that  you  might 
see  how  little  children  may  find  out  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  great  works  of  nature,  the  beautiful 
sights  and  sounds  that  they  see  and  hear  around 
them ;  the  fifteenth  Psalm  in  order  to  show  how, 
from  our  earliest  years  down  to  our  latest  age, 
that  in  which  God  finds  most  pleasure  is  the 
humble,  pure,  truthful,  honourable  mind  ;  and  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seventh  Psalm  in  order 
to  impress  upon  parents  what  precious,  inestim- 
able gifts  are  given  to  them  in  their  little  children. 
And  the  anthem  has  been  chosen  in  order  to 
remind  all  who  are  young  how  precious  to  them 
arc  the  days  of  their  youth,  and  how  the  one  thing 
which  they  must  bear  in  mind  from  first  to  last 
is  to  '  fear  God  and  keep  His  commandments,  for 
this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man  ; '  and  the  hymn  in 
order  to  show  how  all  of  us,  even  the  youngest, 
may  come  to  our  gracious  Saviour  to  ask  Him  to 
have  pity  upon  us.     And  the  lessons  were  chosen, 


SERM.  I.  THE   CHILD  JESUS.  3 

the  first  in  order  to  remind  you  how  Httle  Samuel 
knelt  upon  his  knees  at  morning  and  evening, 
waiting  for  the  voice  of  God  to  tell  him  what  he  was 
to  do  ;  and  the  second  lesson — which  is  what  I  will 
specially  speak  of  now — because  in  it  we  have  the 
example  of  our  Saviour  Himself  as  the  little  child. 
Let  me,  then,  draw  from  these  words  what  may  be 
useful  both  for  the  parents  and  friends  of  those 
children  who  are  here,  and  also,  I  hope,  for  the 
children  themselves,  if  they  will  listen  to  what  I  say. 
First  of  all  it  is  said,  '  The  child ' — that  is, 
the  child  Jesus— 'grew.'  He  grew  in  stature,  and 
He  grew  in  character  and  goodness.  He  did  not 
stand  still.  Although  it  was  God  Himself  who 
was  revealed  to  us  in  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  yet 
this  did  not  prevent  Him  from  being  made  like 
unto  us  in  all  things,  sin  only  excepted.  It  has 
been  reverently  and  truly  said, — 

Was  not  our  Lord  a  little  child, 

Taught  by  degrees  to  pray  ; 
By  father  dear  and  mother  mild 

Instructed  day  by  day  ?  • 

Yes,  He  was  ;  we  need  not  fear  to  say  so,  and  in 
this  lies  the  example  for  us.  Each  one  of  us, 
whether  old  or  young,  must  remember  that  pro- 

'  Christian  Year  :   The  Catechism. 

B  2 


THE  CHILD  JESUS. 


gress,  improvement,  going  on,  advance,  change 
into  something  better  and  better,  wiser  and  wiser, 
year  by  year — that  this  is  the  only  condition,  the  only 
way  of  our  becoming  like  Christ,  and,  therefore, 
like  God.  Do  not  think  that  you  will  always  be, 
that  you  must  always  be,  as  you  are  now.  No  ; 
you  will  grow  up  gradually  to  be  something  very 
different  ;  you  must  increase  and  grow  in  mind  as 
well  as  in  body,  in  wisdom  as  well  as  in  stature. 
The  world  moves,  and  you  and  all  of  us  must  move 
with  it.  God  calls  us,  one  and  all,  ever  to  some- 
thing higher  and  higher,  and  that  higher  stage  you 
and  I  and  the  whole  world  must  reach  by  steadily 
advancing  towards  it. 

And  then  come  three  things  especially  which 
the  text  puts  before  us  as  those  in  which  our 
Lord's  earthly  education,  the  advance  and  im- 
provement of  His  earthly  character,  added  to  His 
youthful  and  childlike  powers.  First,  it  speaks  of 
His  strength  of  character.  It  says.  He  '  waxed 
strong  in  spirit.'  Strong  !  What  a  word  is  that 
for  all  of  you,  my  dear  children.  You  know — 
little  boys  especially  know — how  you  value  and 
honour  those  who  are  strong  in  body.  The  strong 
limb,  the  fleet  foot,  the  sturdy  arm,  the  active 
frame,  you  do  well  to  value    these  things  ;   they 


THE   CHILD  JESUS. 


are  God's  gifts.  The  hardihood  which  can  endure 
blows  without  flinching,  and  toil  without  fatigue, 
which  can  win  the  race,  conquer  in  the  game, 
or  vanquish  in  the  struggle  of  life — these  are  ex- 
cellent gifts  ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  worst  evils  of 
intemperance  or  dissipation  that  they  spoil  and 
destroy  this  glory  of  natural  health  and  vigour 
which  God  gives  to  you.  But  it  is  not  of  this 
strength  that  the  text  speaks,  or  that  I  would  now 
speak  to  you.  What  natural  vigour  is  to  the  body, 
strength  of  character  is  to  the  mind.  A  stout 
heart,  that  is  what  you  want — a  stout  heart  which 
will  be  able  to  resist  all  the  temptations  to  do 
evil,  which  scorns  to  tell  a  lie,  which  will  never 
consent  to  be  betrayed  into  doing  what  is  wrong ; 
a  strong,  hardy  conscience,  which  fixes  itself  on 
matters  of  real  importance,  and  will  not  trifle, 
will  not  waste  its  powers  on  things  of  no  concern. 
Therefore,  I  say,  be  stronger  and  stronger  every 
year.  I  could  not  say  to  you,  perhaps,  be  stronger 
in  body  every  year,  for  that  is  not  within  our  own 
power,  if  we  have  it  not ;  but  I  can  say  be  stronger 
in  spirit,  be  strong  in  mind,  be  strong  in  character, 
be  stout  in  heart,  for  this  does  come  by  trying  to 
have  it.  It  comes  by  being  always  reminded  that 
it  will  come  if  you  strive  to  get  it.     It  comes  to 


6  THE   CHILD  JESUS.  serm.    . 

those  who  are  determined  to  seek  it.     Be  strong, 
therefore,  and  very  courageous. 

And  the  next  thing  which  the  text  speaks  of 
is  wisdom.  It  says  the  child  was  'filled  with 
wisdom.'  Wisdom,  as  it  were,  was  poured  into 
Him,  and  His  mind  opened  wider  and  wider  to 
take  it  in.  He  drank  in  whatever  wisdom  there 
was  in  the  knowledge  of  those  about  Him  ;  He 
drank  in  the  heavenly  wisdom  also  which  comes 
down  from  the  fountain  of  all  wisdom.  You,  too, 
have  this  to  gain  day  by  day.  Those  of  you  especially 
who  are  at  school  are  sent  to  school  for  that  very 
purpose,  to  have  your  minds  opened,  to  take  in  all 
that  your  teachers  can  pour  into  them,  to  be  ready 
for  this  instruction  whenever  it  comes  to  you  from 
books,  from  looking  at  what  you  see  about  you, 
from  conversation,  from  experience  as  you  grow 
older  in  life.  You  need  not  be  old  before  your 
time,  but  you  must  even  now  be  making  the  best 
use  of  your  time.  These  are  the  golden  days 
which  never  come  back  to  you,  which  if  once  lost 
can  never  be  entirely  made  up.  Our  great  King 
Alfred  used  to  regret  in  after  years  nothing  so 
much  as  that,  owing  to  his  long  wanderings  and 
troubles  when  he  was  young,  he  had  not  had  the 
opportunity  of  regular  instruction  at  school.    Seek, 


SERM.  I.  THE   CHILD  JESUS.  7 

therefore,  for  wisdom,  pray  for  it,  determine  to 
have  it ;  and  God,  who  gives  to  those  who  ask,  will 
give  it  to  you.  Try  to  gain  it  as  our  Lord  gained 
it  when  He  was  a  child,  by  hearing  and  by  asking 
questions.  By  hearing  ;  that  is,  by  being  teachable, 
and  humble,  and  modest,  by  fixing  your  attention 
on  what  you  have  to  learn.  And  also  by  asking 
questions,  as  He  did  ;  that  is,  by  trying  to  know  the 
meaning  of  what  you  learn,  by  cross-questioning 
yourselves,  by  inquiring  right  and  left  to  fill  up  the 
blanks  in  your  minds.  Nothing  is  more  charming 
than  to  see  a  little  child  listening,  not  interrupting, 
but  eager  to  hear  what  is  taught.  Nothing  is  more 
charming  than  to  hear  a  little  child  asking  questions. 
That  is  the  only  way  in  which  we  are  able  to  know 
whether  you  take  in  what  has  been  taught  you. 

And  the  next  thing  is  the  grace  or  favour  of 
God,  or,  as  it  says  at  the  end  of  the  chapter,  the 
grace,  or  favour,  of  God  and  man  ;  the  grace,  the 
goodness,  the  graciousness  of  God,  which  calls 
forth  grace,  and  goodness,  and  gratitude  in  man. 
Our  blessed  Lord  had  this  always  ;  but  even  in 
Him  it  increased  more  and  more.  It  increased  as 
He  grew  older,  as  He  saw  more  and  more  of  the 
work  which  was  given  Him  to  do  ;  He  felt  more 
and  more  that  God  was  his  Father,  and  that  men 


8  THE   CHILD  JESUS.  serm.  i. 

were   His   brothers,  and   that   grace  and  loving- 
kindness  was  the  best  and   the  dearest  gift  from 
God  to  man,  and   from   man  to  man,  and   from 
man  to  God.     He  was  subject  to  his  parents  ;   He 
did  what  they  told  Him  ;   and  so  He  became  dear 
to  them.     He  was  kind,  and  gentle,  and  courteous 
to  those  about  Him,  so  that  they  always  liked  to 
see  Him  when  he  came  in  and  out  amongst  them. 
So  may  it  be  with  you.     Look  upon  God  as  your 
dear  Father  in  heaven,  who  loves  you,  and  who 
wishes  nothing   but  your  happiness.     Look  upon 
your  schoolfellows  and    companions   as    brothers, 
to    whom     you    must    show    whatever    kindness 
and  forbearance  you  can.      Just  as  this  beautiful 
building  in  which  we  are  assembled  is  made  up  of 
a  number  of  small  stones  beautifully  carved,  every 
one   of  which  helps  to  make   up   the   grace  and 
beauty  of  the  whole,  so   is   all   the   state  of  the 
world  made  up  of  the  graces  and  goodnesses  not 
only   of  full-grown   men   and   full-grow^n  women, 
but  of  little  children  who  will  be,  at  least  if  they 
live,  full-grown  men  and  full-grown  women.     Re- 
member, then,  all  you  who  are  parents  ;  remember 
still    more   especially,  all   you   who   are  children, 
remember  this  day  ;   and  if  ever  you  are  tempted 
to  do  wrong,  or  to  be  idle,  or  to  be   rude  and 


THE   CHILD  JESUS. 


careless,  or  to  leave  off  s-aying  your  prayers,  then 
think  of  your  Saviour's  good  example  which  has 
been  put  before  you  to-night  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 


II. 

LITTLE  CHILDREN,   LOVE   ONE 
ANOTHER. 

(December  27,  1873.) 

/  write  unto  yoti^  little  children,  because  ye  have  known 
the  Father. — i  John  ii.  13.  My  little  chilaren,  let  its  not 
love  in  word,  neither  in  tongne  ;  but  in  deed  and  in  truth. — ■ 
iii.  18.  Little  childre7i,  keep  yourselves  from  idols. — v.  21. 
/  have  no  g?'eaterjoy  than  to  hear  that  my  children  walk  in 
truth. — 3  John  4. 

The  day  on  which  this  service  is  usually  held  is 
called  Innocents'  Day,  from  the  little  innocent 
children  that  were  killed  at  Bethlehem.  But  as 
this  year  Innocents'  Day  falls  on  a  Sunday,  I  have 
invited  you  here  on  this  the  day  before,  which 
is  called  St.  John's  Day,  because  it  is  the  day  on 
which  we  are  called  to  think  of  the  good  apostle 
St.  John.  I  shall  say  a  few  words  to  you  about 
him.  His  memory  was  very  deeply  cherished  by 
the  good  king  who  on  Innocents'  Day  founded  the 
Abbey,  and  it  has  been  very  dear  to  Christians 


SERM.  II.  LITTLE   CHILDREN.  n 

always.     When  he  was  first  a  disciple  of  our  Lord 
he  was  quite  young,  perhaps  not  much  more  than 
a  boy.     But  there  was  something  so  winning  about 
him  that  our  Lord  always  kept  him  close  to  Him, 
and  he  was  called  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved. 
When  our  Lord  was  gone  away  into  heaven,  this 
disciple  St.  John,  after  living  some  time  at  Jerusa- 
lem with  the  other  apostles,  went  to  the  great  city 
of  Ephesus,  and  there  he  lived  on  after  all  the 
other  apostles  were  dead,  and  he  was   the  only 
one   left.      There   is    a    beautiful    picture   which 
some  one  has  painted  of  the  old  man  sitting  on  a 
rock  quite  alone,  and  looking  up  into  heaven,  and 
seeing  there  his  former  companions  in  that  better 
world  still  busying  themselves  with  doing  good  and 
holy  things,  as  we  hope  that  all  those  whom  we 
have  loved  and  admired  on  earth  are  doing  still. 
It   was   whilst   he   was   living   there  that   various 
stories  are  told  of  him  that  we  do  not  find  in  the 
Bible,  and  we  cannot  be  sure  that  they  are  quite 
certainly   true.      But    they    are    what    the    early 
Christians  believed  about  him,  and  they  agree  so 
well  with  the  letters  or  epistles  which  he  wrote  at 
that  time,  and  from  which  I  have  taken  the  texts 
of  this  sermon,  that  I  will  try  to  tell  them  to  you, 
and  see  what  we  can  learn  from  them. 


12  LITTLE   CHILDREN,  serm.  ii. 

One  is  this.  There  came  one  day  a  huntsman 
who  had  heard  so  much  of  this  great,  wise  old  man, 
that  he  went  out  of  his  way  to  see  him  ;  and  to  his 
surprise  he  found  St.  John  gently  stroking  a  par- 
tridge which  he  held  in  his  hand,  and  he  could  not 
help  saying  how  surprised  he  was  to  see  so  great 
a  man  employed  on  anything  so  small.  Then  St. 
John  said,  'What  have  you  in  your  hand?'  And  he 
said,  '  A  bow.'  And  St.  John  said,  '  Why  is  it  not 
bent  ? '  And  the  huntsman  said,  '  Because  then  it 
would  lose  its  strength.'  '  That  is  just  the  reason,' 
said  St.  John,  '  why  I  play  with  the  partridge.  It  is 
that  my  mind  may  be  kept  strong  by  sometimes 
being  at  play.'  What  do  we  learn  from  this  story, 
my  dear  children?  We  learn  from  it  that  St.  John, 
and  great  and  good  men  like  St.  John,  are  glad 
now  and  then  to  see  you  at  play,  and  to  play  like 
you.  They  are  glad  to  see  you  happy  ;  and  they 
wish  to  be  little  children  again  like  you,  because 
that  helps  them  afterwards  to  work  better.  We  learn 
from  it  to  be  kind  as  he  was  to  little  birds  and 
beasts  :  never  to  torment  them  ;  to  remember  that 
kindness  to  dumb  animals  is  a  part  of  what  God 
requires  of  you.  There  was  an  aged  lady,  very 
excellent,  wise,  and  wonderfully  learned,  who  lived 
to  be  very  nearly  as  old  as  St.  John,  and  who  died 


SERM.  ir.  LOVE   ONE  ANOTHER.  13 

last  year  in  her  ninety-second  year.  She  said,  a 
very  short  time  before  her  death,  '  I  hope  that  the 
time  may  come  when  children  shall  be  taught  that 
mercy  to  birds  and  beasts  is  part  of  religion.'  Yes, 
it  ought  to  be  part  of  our  religion.  I  trust  that 
we  shall  make  it  so.  Play,  too,  with  your  com- 
panions, like  St.  John  ;  remember  always  that  all 
play  and  all  holidays  are  given  by  God,  to  be  like 
the  unbending  of  a  bow,  to  help  you  to  work  better 
for  the  future.  It  is  as  when  he  said  in  his  epistle, 
'  I  write  unto  you,  litde  children,  because  ye  liave 
known  the  Father.'  You  have  known  our  loving 
Father  in  heaven.  He  gives  you  all  good  things, 
work  and  play,  play  and  work,  to  make  your  minds 
and  hearts  stronger,  and  better  able  to  do  His  will. 
He  gives  you  beautiful  birds  and  beautiful  ani- 
mals to  play  with  and  to  love.  They,  too,  are  His 
creatures  ;  He  has  made  you  their  guardians  and 
playmates,  and  he  has  made  them  your  com- 
panions and  teachers. 

Another  story  is  this.  There  was  a  young 
man  who  had  grown  up  under  St.  John's  care  in 
doing  what  was  right,  and  St.  John  was  very  fond 
of  him.  At  last,  after  a  time,  St.  John  had  to  go 
away,  and  gave  this  young  man  in  charge  to  the 
bishop  or  chief  pastor  of  Ephesus,  and  told  him 


14 


LITTLE   CHILDREN, 


on  no  account  to  let  him  go  astray.  But  when 
St.  John  came  back  and  went  to  the  bishop, 
with  whom  he  had  left  his  young  pupil,  he  saw 
from  the  bishop's  face  that  something  sad  had 
happened.  '  What  is  it  ? '  he  said ;  and  the  bishop 
told  him  how  this  young  man  had  fallen  in  with 
bad  companions,  who  tempted  him  away  into  the 
mountains,  and  there  they  were  living  the  wild 
life  of  robbers,  and  used  to  come  down  from  the 
hills,  as  the  robbers  still  do  in  those  countries,  to 
carry  off  travellers  and  ask  a  ransom  for  them.  As 
soon  as  St.  John  heard  this,  he  immediately  set  off 
into  the  mountains.  He  was  not  frightened  by  the 
thought  of  the  robbers,  he  cared  only  to  save  this 
poor  young  man  from  his  bad  courses.  And  when 
the  robbers  saw  him  coming,  they  said  amongst 
themselves,  '  Here  comes  some  one  that  we  can 
carry  off; '  and  down  rushed  the  young  man  who 
had  become  their  chief,  and  found  himself  face  to 
face  with  his  beloved  old  master  and  friend  St. 
John.  And  the  moment  he  saw  him  he  burst  into 
tears  and  fell  at  his  feet,  all  his  better  feelings 
revived,  and  instead  of  his  carrying  off  St.  John, 
St.  John  brought  him  back  to  good  ways,  and  he 
never  went  astray  afterwards. 

What  do  we  learn  from  this?     Is  it  not  some- 


SERM.  II.  LOVE   ONE  ANOTHER.  15 

thing  like  that  which  St.  John  himself  said  in  that 
chapter  which  you  have  just  heard  ?  He  had  taught 
this  young  man  as  a  little  child  to  love  and  know 
the  good  Father  of  all.  He  had  taught  him  as  a 
young  man  to  overcome  the  wicked  one ;  that  is,  to 
get  the  better  of  the  evil  that  there  is  even  in  the 
best  things.  And  now  when  he  went  astray  he 
never  lost  his  interest  in  him ;  he  went  after  him, 
even  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  to  bring  him  back, 
and  he  succeeded.  This  story  is  full  of  instruction 
even  for  us.  It  brings  back  to  us  some  of  St. 
John's  own  words,  '  Litde  children,  keep  yourselves 
from  idols.'  Although  we  have  now  no  idols  like 
those  which  the  heathens  worship,  yet  there  are 
many  idols  still.  If  a  little  brother  or  sister  will 
insist  on  having  a  toy  for  himself,  and  not  let  any 
one  else  play  with  it,  that  is  his  'idol.'  If  any 
boy  who  is  growing  up  thinks  of  nothing  but 
games  and  amusement,  and  neglects  his  lessons, 
then  games  become  his  idol.  If  a  young  man 
goes,  as  did  that  one  in  the  story,  after  bad  com- 
panions, they  become  his  'idols.'  Keep  yourselves 
from  all  these  idols ;  and  all  of  you,  O  children, 
boys,  and  young  men,  remember  that  there  is  no 
greater  pleasure  you  can  give  to  )'0ur  parents  and 
teachers  than  to   continue  in   the  good  thoughts 


i6  LITTLE   CHILDREN,  serm.  ii. 

and  words  that  they  have  taught  you ;  remember 
that  there  is  no  greater  pain  for  them  than  to 
think  that  you  have  forgotten  what  they  told 
you,  that  you  have  ceased  to  care  for  them,  and 
have  gone  off  into  evil  ways.  And  oh,  how  happy 
for  you,  how  happy  for  them,  if  when  you  have 
gone  astray,  or  done  anything  wrong,  you  come 
again  Uke  that  young  man  and  acknowledge  your 
faults  !  and  the  good  old  friend,  whoever  it  is, 
father,  or  uncle,  or  brother,  or  teacher,  will  receive 
you  back  again  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  '  I 
have  no  greater  joy,'  St.  John  said,  'than  to  hear 
that  my  children  walk  in  truth.'  Be  truthful 
in  all  things,  acknowledge  your  faults  as  did 
the  young  robber  chief,  do  not  keep  them  back 
from  your  parents  or  friends.  Never  tell  a  lie 
to  conceal  what  you  have  done  wrong.  Have 
no  tricks  or  schemes  to  make  others  think  you 
better  than  you  are.  Tell  the  truth,  and  shame 
the  devil. 

There  is  one  other  story.  When  St.  John  was 
very  old  indeed,  v/hen  he  was  almost  a  hundred, 
when  he  could  no  longer  walk  or  speak  as  he  had 
done  in  his  youth,  he  used  to  be  carried  into 
the  market-place  in  the  arms  of  his  friends,  and 
the  people,  old,  and  young,  and  children,  gathered 


SERM.  II.  LOVE   ONE  ANOTHER.  17 

round  him  to  hear  the  farewell  words  of  their 
venerable  teacher.  And  then  he  would  say,  '  Little 
children,  love  one  another ; '  and  when  they  asked 
for  something  else,  he  said  again,  '  Little  children, 
love  one  another ; '  and  when  they  asked  him  yet 
again,  still  he  said, '  Little  children,  love  one  another.' 
And  they  said,  '  Why  do  you  always  say  this,  and 
nothing  else?'  And  he  said,  'Because  this  is  the 
best  thing  I  can  say ;  if  you  love  one  another,  that 
is  all  that  I  have  to  tell  you.'  What  do  we  learn 
from  this  ?  We  learn  that  the  thing  which  St.  John, 
the  beloved  disciple,  was  most  anxious  to  teach, 
was  that  those  whom  he  cared  for  should  love  one 
another.  It  is  the  same  as  when  he  said  in  his 
letter  to  them,  '  My  little  children,  let  us  love  one 
another  in  deed  and  in  truth.'  And  that  is  what 
we  say  to  you  now,  '  Little  children,  love  one 
another.'  Little  brothers,  be  kind  to  your  little 
brothers  and  sisters.  Boys  at  school,  be  kind  to 
those  who  are  younger  and  weaker  than  you.  You 
can  show  them  kindness  and  love  in  many,  many 
ways ;  you  can  keep  from  teasing  or  hurting  them, 
you  can  prevent  others  from  teasing  or  hurting 
them  ;  and  that  will  make  them  love  and  be  kind  to 
you.  Little  boys  will  never  forget  the  kindness  they 
have  received  from  bigger  boys  at  school.    Brothers 


1 8  LITTLE   CHILDREN,  serm.  ii. 

and  sisters  who  have  given  up  lovingly  and  kindly 
when  they  were  quite  small  will  give  up  lovingly 
and  kindly  all  their  lives.  Love  one  another  in 
deed  and  in  truth  ;  do  not  pick  out  each  other's 
faults  ;  make  the  best  of  what  there  is  good  in  each 
other ;  be  glad  when  you  hear  anything  good  of 
those  who  live  with  you.  Never  quarrel ;  it  does 
no  good  to  any  one.  Never  be  jealous  ;  jealousy 
is  one  of  the  most  mischievous,  hateful  things  that 
can  get  into  any  one's  mind.  Never  tell  bad 
stories  one  of  another.  Never  listen  to  bad 
stories  of  other  people.  When  you  ask  to  be 
forgiven  in  your  prayers  every  night,  always  try 
in  your  hearts  to  forgive  and  forget  what  has 
been  done  to  vex  you  in  the  day. 

This  is  the  love  which  St.  John  wished  to  see. 
This  is  the  love  which  Jesus  Christ  wishes  to  see 
in  all  His  disciples,  old  and  young. 

Always  bear  in  mind  that  the  first  thing  to  be 
done  is  to  try  to  help  and  befriend  some  one  else. 
That  will  make  you  generous  and  just ;  that  will 
make  you  active  and  courageous  ;  that  will  make 
you  feel  how  wicked  it  is  to  lead  others  into  wrong, 
and  how  happy  and  excellent  a  thing  it  is  to  help 
others  to  be  good.  That  will  make  you  better  able 
to  love  and  to  do  good  to  men  when  you  grow 


SERM.  II.  LOVE   ONE  ANOTHER.  19 

up  to  be  men  yourselves.  That  will  the  better 
enable  you  to  love  God,  who  can  only  be  loved 
by  those  who  love  their  fellow-creatures.  There- 
fore I  end  this  address  to  you,  as  St.  John  ended 
his  long  life,  saying,  *  Little  children,  love  one 
another.' 


III. 

THE  USE  OF   CHILDREN. 

(December  28,  1874.) 

Andjesits  called  a  Utile  child  tinto  Him,  and  set  him  in 
the  midst  of  them,  and  said.  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Except  ye 
be  converted,  and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. — Matt,  xviii.  2,  3. 

The  Festival  of  the  Innocents,  which  is  the  festival 
of  little  children,  brings  us  in  the  course  of  the 
services  of  the  Church  to  this  incident  in  the 
Gospel  history.  Jesus  called  a  little  child,  and 
set  him  in  the  midst  of  them.  That  is  what  is 
attempted  here  every  Innocents'  Day.  We  wish 
once  a  year  to  call  the  little  children  of  London 
together  and  place  them  in  the  midst  of  this  great 
church  in  this  great  metropolis,  and  ask  them,  and 
ask  their  friends  and  parents,  what  it  is  that  these 
little  faces  ought  to  teach  us,  as  they  taught  the 
first  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ. 

First,  what  do  they  teach  us  about  God  and 
our  Saviour  ?  There  was  a  very  wise  man,  William 


SER^r.  III.       THE    USE   OF  CHILDREN.  21 

Paley,  who  lived  a  hundred  years  ago,  who  used  to 
say  that  of  all  the  proofs  that  the  world  gave  him 
of  the  benevolence  the  good- will  of  God,  our 
Creator,  the  chief  was  the  pleasures  of  little  children. 
And  there  is  a  great  deal  in  this  :  when  we  see  the 
innocent,  radiant  happiness  of  children,  without 
care  and  without  sorrow,  we  cannot  help  thinking 
that  we  then  see  something  like  what  is  meant  by 
Paradise,  something  like  what  God  intended  man- 
kind to  be.  They  are  like  the  flowers,  like  the  gay 
plumage  and  the  flight  of  birds,  like  the  dancing  of 
brooks  and  rivulets  ;  we  cannot  imagine  why  they 
should  be  as  they  are,  except  because  God  delights 
in  such  happiness,  and  would  wish  us  to  enjoy  it. 
And  so,  too,  in  the  Gospel  history,  where  we  hear 
how  often  our  Saviour  took  notice  of  little  children, 
how  He  set  them  up  in  the  midst  of  His  disciples, 
how  He  took  them  up  in  His  arms  and  laid  His 
hands  on  their  little  heads  and  blessed  them,  and 
by  His  outward  gesture  and  deed  declared  His 
good-will  towards  them — this  shows  us  how  He 
enjoyed  what  we  enjoy.  It  is  the  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion which  is  sometimes  asked— we  hear  that  our 
Saviour  wept,  and  we  ask.  But  did  He  ever  smile  ? 
Yes,  He  did  smile.  He  must  have  smiled  as  He 
fondled  these  little  ones.     No  one  can  mix  thus 


22  THE    USE   OF  CHILDREN.      serm.  hi. 

with  cliildren,  and  not  have  his  brow  relax,  and  his 
eyes  brighten,  and  his  Hps  move  with  gaiety  and 
laughter,  as  he  handles  them,  and  looks  at  them, 
and  learns  from  them.  And  then,  in  this  en- 
joyment and  appreciation  of  little  children,  our 
Saviour  teaches  us  the  enjoyment  and  appreciation 
of  all  innocent  happiness.  He  bids  us  enjoy  this 
season.  He  bids  us  be  as  a  child  with  children. 
He  bids  us  be  as  little  children.  He  bids  us  feel 
that  He  loves  us  as  a  father  pitieth  his  own 
children.  Surely  the  sight  of  little  children  set 
in  the  midst  of  full-grown  men  is  a  rebuke  to  our 
passions,  a  solace  to  our  sorrows,  an  example  for  our 
imitation.  '  Except  ye  become  as  little  children, 
ye  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.' 
No  doubt  there  are  bad  children,  there  are  vain 
children,  who  are  no  comfort  and  no  examples  to 
anybody  ;  but  a  good  child  is  in  some  respects  more 
of  a  comfort,  more  of  an  example,  than  a  good  man. 
And  why?  Because  a  httle  child  knows  nothing  of 
our  quarrels,  of  our  doubts,  of  our  disputes,  of  our 
ambitions,  of  our  cares.  It  can  come  into  a  sick 
chamber,  or  a  chamber  of  sorrow,  when  no  one 
else  can  come  in,  because  it  awakes  no  painful 
feeling  ;  it  is  unconscious  in  its  joy,  it  is  gentle  in 
its  grief     It  produces  a  holy  calm  which  enables 


SERM.  III.       THE    USE   OF  CHILDREN.  23 

the  sufferer  to  reflect  and  decide,  and  look  upwards 
and  inwards  with  the  trustful  confidence  which  the 
confidence  of  the  child  itself  inspires.  And  do  we 
not  feel  that  in  their  presence,  if  anywhere,  we  are 
among  those  who  see  things  as  they  really  are  ? 

And  how  often  has  a  little  child  of  a  rough,  hard 
father  or  mother,  set  in  the  midst  of  an  unhappy 
household,  been  by  its  innocent  ways  the  saving 
of  such  a  parent  or  such  a  household  !  AVhat  pro- 
tection there  is  in  the  smile  of  an  innocent  infant ! 
What  a  sermon  there  is  in  the  eyes  of  an  inquiring, 
honest,  fearless  little  boy ;  of  a  gentle,  pure  little 
girl  !  How  impressive  and  how  true  to  nature  is 
the  story  of  the  old  miser,  Silas  Marner,  whose 
suspicious,  irritable  mind  was  gradually  transformed 
and  transfigured  by  the  treasure  of  a  little  child 
that  he  one  day  found  unexpectedly  placed  in  his 
miserable  home  !  That  exactly  expresses  what  our 
Saviour  meant  by  setting  a  child  in  the  midst  of 
them.  How  striking  the  letter  of  Luther  to  his 
little  boy  John,  or  his  letter  on  the  death  of  his 
little  daughter  Magdalen  !  These  children  seem 
to  have  been  given  to  him  that  all  the  world  might 
know  what  a  kind,  tender  heart  there  was  in  that 
strong,  strict,  energetic  man.  Or  in  the  history  of 
England  is  there  any  crime  in  the  bloody  civil  wars 


24  THE    USE   OF  CHILDREN.      serm.  hi. 

of  York  and  Lancaster,  or  any  of  the  cruelties  of 
the  kings  and  barons  in  those  savage  times,  which 
has  so  touched  the  hearts  of  all  Englishmen  in 
later  days  as  the  murder  of  the  two  little  princes  in 
the  Tower  ? 

Thus  lay  the  gentle  babes  girdling  one  another 
Within  their  alabaster  innocent  arms  ; 

A  book  of  prayers  upon  their  pillow  lay. 

We  feel,  as  we  read  that  story,  a  glow  of 
righteous  indignation  against  grasping  ambition 
and  selfish  tyranny  of  every  kind,  past  or  present. 
Or  in  the  history  of  the  horrors  of  the  French 
Revolution  is  there  any  deed  of  blood  which  has 
left  so  dark  and  deep  a  stain  on  the  violent  party- 
spirit  and  revolutionary  fanaticism  of  those  days  as 
the  inhuman  treatment  of  that  unfortunate  child, 
the  son  of  Louis  XVI.,  who  died  at  ten  years  old 
of  the  misery  and  insults  inflicted  upon  him  by  the 
agents  of  the  ruffians  who  then  trampled  on  the 
liberties  of  France  ?  I  have  seen  an  ivory  cross, 
said  to  have  been  worn  by  the  queen  his  mother 
on  her  way  to  the  scaffold.  But  the  figure  on  the 
crucifix  is  not  the  dying  Redeemer  in  his  full-grown 
stature,  but  the  infant  Jesus  stretched  on  the  cross, 
with    His   gentle    smile    and    innocent   gestures. 


SERM.  III.       THE   USE  OF  CHILDREN.  25 

Whether  or  not  it  was  that  she,  in  that  last  hour, 
was  thinking  of  her  own  unhappy  child,  that  little 
figure  at  least  represents  what  has  been  the  feeling  of 
humanity  in  the  whole  course  of  history — that  there 
is  nothing  which  so  touches  the  heart,  or  elevates 
the  thought,  or  stirs  the  just  anger  of  the  better 
portion  of  mankind,  as  the  wrongs  or  the  sufferings 
of  a  little  child.  Such  thoughts  as  these  ought  to 
strike  home  to  the  hearts  of  all  who  have  anything 
to  do  with  children,  parents,  friends  of  children, 
ay,  and  children  themselves.  This  is  the  meaning 
of  those  words  of  our  Lord,  when  on  this  same 
occasion  He  said,  '  Whoso  shall  offend  one  of  these 
little  ones,  it  were  better  that  a  millstone  were  hanged 
about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea.'  Think  what  it  is  to  mislead,  or 
to  pervert,  or  to  corrupt,  or  to  give  needless  pain  to 
any  of  these  children,  who  were  sent  to  us  with  the 
special  view  of  keeping  alive  within  us  w^hatever 
there  is  of  good  or  pure  or  just.  An  ancient 
heathen  poet  has  said,  'There  is  nothing  which 
demands  greater  reverence  at  our  hands  than  the 
conscience  of  a  little  boy  : ' — 

Maxima  debetur  pueris  reverentia 
To  accustom  them  in  their  early  years  to  sounds  or 


26  THE   USE   OF  CHILDREN.      serm.  hi. 

sights  of  cruelty  or  vice,  to  teach  them  by  precept 
or  words  those  bad  habits,  those  slang,  vulgar 
words,  which  confuse  their  delicate  sense  of  right 
or  wrong,  which  deprave  their  taste  for  what  is 
beautiful ;  to  encourage,  by  foolish  laughter  or  by 
reckless  indulgence,  the  tricks  or  the  mistakes  or 
the  frivolities  of  those  who  soon  learn  to  know 
what  it  is  that  amuses  their  elders,  and  who  have 
a  fatal  facility  of  imitating  what  is  bad  as  well  as 
what  is  good  ;  these  are  so  many  ways  of  offend- 
ing God's  little  ones,  causing  them  to  stumble,  go 
astray,  spoiling  them  (to  use  that  homely  but  most 
expressive  word)  for  any  good  word  or  work  in 
after-life.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  how  much  can 
be  done  to  develop,  to  unfold,  to  enlighten  them 
from  the  very  first  !  They  are  to  us  the  types  and 
likenesses  of  the  whole  human  race — of  religion 
itself  Every  generation  is  bound  to  contribute  what 
it  can  to  the  formation  of  that  perfect  man  which  is 
to  grow  up  into  the  fulness  of  the  stature  of  Jesus 
Christ.  And  so  every  parent,  every  teacher,  is  bound 
to  pour  all  the  light  and  knowledge  and  grace  that 
he  can  into  the  souls,  the  eager  receptive  souls,  of 
those  who  will  grow  up  to  take  our  place  when  we 
are  dead  and  gone.  '  Take  heed  that  ye  despise  not 
one  of  these  little  ones.'    No,  indeed,  they  are  not 


SERM.  III.       THE    USE   OF  CHILDREN,  27 

to  be  despised,  they  have  in  them  the  future  of 
the  world.  '  Their  angels,'  as  the  Saviour  says, 
'behold  the  face  of  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven.' 
That  is  to  say,  their  immortal  destinies  are  trea- 
sured up  in  the  eternal  councils  of  Providence, 
as  the  means  by  which  the  world  shall  be  regene- 
rated. That  little  child  which  the  Saviour  held  in 
His  arms  was,  according  to  the  tradition,  to  grow  up 
to  be  the  future  martyr  of  the  early  church,  Ignatius, 
the  heroic  Bishop  of  Antioch.  The  children  of 
England  at  this  moment — who  know^s  what  may 
be  the  lot  of  any  one  of  them  ?  We  remember  the 
mournful  regret  of  the  poet  in  the  country  church- 
yard at  the  thought  how  there  might  there  be 
mouldering — 

Hands  that  the  rod  of  empire  might  have  swayed, 
Or  waked  to  ecstasy  the  living  lyre  ; 

how 

Some  mute  inglorious  Milton  here  may  rest, 
Some  Cromw  ell  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood. 

But  the  same  thing  may  occur  to  any  thoughtful 
man,  as  he  looks  over  an  assembly  of  children,  not 
with  useless  regret  at  what  might  have  been  and 
is  not,  but  with  inspiring  hope  at  what  may  be,  and 
peihaps  shall  be.  They  are  the  rising  generation  ; 
they  contain  the  poets,  the  scholars,  the  discoverers, 


28  THE    USE   OF  CHILDREN.      seraf.  hi. 

the  statesmen,  the  Christians  of  the  future.  Their 
guardian  angels,  their  ideals  (so  to  speak),  are  at 
this  moment  contemplating,  in  the  face  of  the 
Eternal  Father,  the  possible  destinies  of  glory,  of 
grace,  or  of  goodness  which  they  may  accomplish, 
and  which  need  only  our  helping  hands  to  enable 
them  to  help  themselves,  and  reach  forward  to  the 
prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 

And  in  this,  you,  my  dear  children,  can  take 
your  part.  I  have  hitherto  spoken  more  to  your 
friends  and  your  parents  than  to  you,  but  you  will 
have  heard  what  I  have  been  saying,  and  you  will 
feel  how  great  a  blessing  you  can  be  to  them  and  to 
all  of  us  if  you  are  good,  sweet-tempered,  and  kind  ; 
and  how  great  a  misery  if  you  are  naughty,  cross, 
selfish.  If  you  look  at  the  face  of  your  father  or 
mother,  your  uncle  or  aunt,  or  your  tutor,  you  will 
often  seen  a^dark  shade  come  over  it,  as  if  they  had 
some  very  bad  news  ;  and  what  do  you  think  it  is?  It 
is  because  they  have  seen  something  in  you  that  has 
distressed  them,  that  has  made  them  fear  that  you 
are  not  going  on  as  you  ought,  that  you  have  been 
unkind,  or  untruthful,  or  rough.  Oh  !  drive  away 
that  dark  shade  from  their  faces,  for  you  only  can 
do  it ;  you  love  them,  and  you  would  not  make  them 
unhappy.     And  have  you  not  also  seen  their  faces 


SERM.  Ill-      THE    USE   OF  CHILDREN.  29 

sometimes  shine  with  joy,  and  their  eyes  sparkle  ? 
and  even  if  they  are  ill  or  suffering,  have  you  not 
seen  them  cheered  up,  and  seem,  for  the  moment, 
almost  well  ?  Why  is  it  ?  What  has  helped  them  ? 
Have  they  had  a  great  treasure  sent  to  them  ?  Has 
a  good  fairy  given  them  some  beautiful  palace  or 
kingdom  ?  No.  I  will  tell  you  what  it  is.  They 
have  heard,  they  have  seen,  that  their  child  is  going 
on  as  they  would  wish  ;  that  their  little  son  or 
their  little  nephew  shows  himself  more  manly,  more 
attentive  to  his  lessons,  •more  courageous,  more 
kind  to  dumb  creatures,  more  thoughtful  for  his 
brothers  and  sisters  ;  or  that  their  little  daughter  or 
their  litde  aiiece  is  growing  up  more  modest,  more 
willing  to  help  her  father  and  mother,  more  gentle, 
more  compassionate  ;  less  thinking  of  herself,  and 
more  of  those  about  her.  And  can  you  not  also 
help  each  other  ?  For  it  is  not  only  parents  that 
sometimes  spoil  their  children,  it  is  sometimes 
children  who  spoil  one  another.  And  it  is  not 
only  parents  and  teachers  who  educate  and  teach 
their  children,  it  is  children  who  educate  and  teach 
one  another.  Even  in  the  nursery  you  can  keep 
quiet  whilst  your  little  brother  and  sister  are  saying 
their  prayers.  By  giving  or  keeping  back  your 
playthings  you   can   make  one  another  happy  or 


30  THE   USE   OF  CHILDREN,      serm.  hi. 

miserable.  And  as  you  grow  older — you  little  boys 
especially,  when  you  go  to  school — you  can  be  like 
guardian  angels  to  those  who  are  weaker  and 
younger  than  you.  You  can  watch  over  them. 
You  can  encourage  them  in  telling  the  truth,  and 
in  keeping  from  bad  words.  You  can  prevent 
others  from  teasing  them ;  and  when  you  grow  to 
be  men,  you  will  fmd,  perhaps,  that  the  good  which 
you  have  done  to  them  has  never  been  forgotten  ; 
and  when  some  one  presses  your  hand  more  warmly, 
or  looks  gratefully  in  your  face,  it  will  be  because 
he  remembers  the  kindness  you  did  to  him  when 
you  both  sat  side  by  side  on  the  same  bench,  or 
played  together  in  the  same  playground  at  school. 
And  if  any  good  thought  has  been  put  into  your 
hearts  to-da}',  do  not  let  it  pass  away.  Remember 
that  each  of  you  may  grow  up  to  be  a  light  in  the 
world,  beloved  by  all  good  men  there,  as  you  are 
beloved  by  your  brothers  and  sisters  and  play- 
fellows. It  is  told  of  one  recently  buried  in  this 
Abbey — David  Livingstone — that  he  began  to  im- 
prove himself  quite  as  a  young  boy  in  Scotland, 
reading  his  books  at  any  odd  moment,  amidst  all 
the  noise  and  clatter  around  him  when  he  was  at 
his  work  ;  and  he  ended  his  life  by  having  made 
himself  so  honoured  and  beloved  by  the  Africans 


SERM.  III.       THE    USE   OF  CHILDREN.  31 

amongst  whom  he  died,  that  they  carried  his  dead 
body  through  every  kind  of  difficuhy  and  danger, 
till  at  last  it  was  laid  where  you  see  his  name  and 
his  fame  inscribed  for  ever.  And  remember  that 
Jesus  Christ  Himself,  the  great  and  good  Saviour, 
began  as  a  child  like  you.  A  good  man,^  whose 
monument  was  erected  in  this  church  by  one  ^  who 
loved  his  poetry  dearly,  and  who  is  himself  de- 
parted from  us,  was  always  thinking  of  little  chil- 
dren and  writing  verses  for  them,  and  of  the  love 
which  Jesus  Christ  had  for  them  ;  and  with  some 
of  these  verses  I  will  end  what  I  have  to  say. 

Was  not  our  Lord  a  little  child, 

Taught  by  degrees  to  pray  ; 
By  father  dear  and  mother  mild 

Instructed  day  by  day  ? 

And  loved  He  not  of  heaven  to  talk 

With  children  in  His  sight  ; 
To  meet  them  in  His  daily  walk, 

And  to  His  arms  invite  ? 

In  His  arms  may  you  all  remain  to  the  end  of  your 
lives. 

'  Keble.  ^  Edward  Twisleton. 


IV. 
THE   'GOLIATH'  BOYS. 

(December  28,  1875.) 

There  remaineth  yet  the  youngest,  a?td,  behold,  he  keepeth 
the  sheep.  —  i  Sam.  xvi.  11. 

I  PROPOSE  to  set  before  you  to-day  an  example  of 
what  may  be  expected  from  children,  from  little 
boys,  from  little  girls,  when  they  are  quite  young  ; 
to  show  you  how  they  may  do  and  say  things 
which  will  be  of  the  greatest  use  to  those  about 
them,  and  which  will  do  the  greatest  good  to  their 
own  characters.  Sometimes  we  think  that  they  can 
only  do  very  little,  but  I  will  show  you  that  they  can 
do  a  great  deal.  Look  at  David  :  when  Samuel 
first  came  to  his  father's  house  and  asked  to  see 
the  sons,  they  came  one  after  another,  tall,  grown- 
up men  ;  no  one  thought  of  the  little  boy  who  was 
with  the  sheep.  When  the  huge  giant,  Goliath  of 
Gath,  defied  the  armies  of  Israel,  he  looked  round 
disdainfully,   as    though    he    saw   no    one.      But 


SRRM.  IV.  THE   'GOLIATH'   BOYS.  33 

running  across  the  valley  there  came  to  the  Philis- 
tine giant  this  young  boy,  with  his  bright  auburn 
hair,  and  his  fierce  quick  eyes,  and  his  little  satchel 
round  his  neck,  and  his  little  switch  in  his  hand, 
with  which  he  kept  the  sheep-dogs  in  order.  It 
w\as  he  who  had  sung  his  songs  on  the  hill-side, 
where  he  saw  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars.  It  was 
he  who  had  had  the  courage  to  run  after  the  lion 
and  the  bear,  and  snatch  his  sheep  or  his  lambs  out 
of  their  mouths.  It  was  he  who,  though  his  tall 
brothers  thought  nothing  of  him,  and  the  proud 
Philistine  treated  him  as  a  mere  child,  yet  was  able 
to  do  for  his  country  what  no  one  else  could  do, 
and  with  his  sling  and  his  stone,  with  his  fleet  feet, 
and  his  certain  aim,  and  his  strong  faith,  and  his 
undaunted  spirit,  to  overthrow  his  gigantic  enemy. 
This  is  a  story  which  is  often  repeated.  It  has 
been  repeated  in  the  example  of  some  of  the 
early  martyrs  ;  not  only  of  those  children  who  are 
commemorated  to-day  as  the  Innocent  Babes 
whom  Herod  killed,  and  who  died  not  knowing 
how  or  why,  but  later  in  the  history  of  the  Church  ; 
as  in  the  cases  of  the  little  boy  Pancratius,  who  is 
ti-2lieved  to  have  been  a  martyr  at  fourteen,  and  of 
the  little  girl  Agnes,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been 
a  martyr  at  thirteen.     There  have  been  some  of  our 


34  THE   'GOLIATH'   BOYS.         serm.  iv. 

own  good  young  princes  who  are  buried  in  this 
Abbey.  There  w^as  that  wonderfully  gifted  boy, 
Edward  VL,  who  was  only  sixteen  when  he  died, 
and  who  before  that  time  had  by  his  diligence  and 
his  honesty  made  himself  beloved  and  trusted  by 
all  about  him,  and  who  even  had  the  firmness 
to  resist  doing  a  very  cruel  act  when  urged  to  it 
by  a  much  older  man,  who  should  have  known 
better.  There  is  the  good  Prince  Henry,  eldest 
son  of  King  James  I.,  who  w^hen  his  foolish  atten- 
dants provoked  him  to  swear  because  a  butcher's 
dog  had  killed  a  stag  that  he  was  hunting,  said, 
*  Away  with  you  !  all  the  pleasure  in  the  world  is 
not  worth  a  profane  oath.'  There  was,  again,  that 
other  Henry,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  w^ho  sat  on  the 
knees  of  his  father,  Charles  I.,  on  the  day  before 
his  execution,  and  who,  when  his  father  said  to 
him,  '  They  will  try  to  make  you  king  instead  of 
your  elder  brother,'  fired  up  like  a  little  man,  and 
said,  '  I  will  be  torn  in  pieces  first.'  Well  might 
all  these  princes  be  mourned,  and  have  a  place 
in  English  history,  and  a  place  in  this  Abbey  ; 
because,  though  they  died  early,  they  showed  of 
what  stuff  they  were  made,  and  that  they  would 
have  been  fit  to  be  kings,  and  to  be  with  kings, 
because  they  had  wills  and  consciences  of  their 


SERM.  IV.  THE   'GOLIATH'   BOYS.  35 

own  ;  because  they  were  afraid  of  nothing  except 
doing  wrong  ;  because  they  cared  for  nothing  so 
much  as  doing  their  duty. 

But  perhaps  some  of  you,  or  of  your  parents 
and  friends  who  have  the  charge  of  you,  will  say  : 
'  Oh,  but  these  were  young  princes,  with  all  the 
advantages  which  a  great  education  could  give  ; 
or,  these  were  martyrs  who  lived  long  ago,  when 
times  were  so  different ;  or,  that  bright-eyed,  light- 
haired  boy,  the  youthful  David,  was  inspired  by 
God's  especial  grace  to  do  and  say  great  things, 
which  could  not  be  expected  of  us.' 

But  now  let  me  give  you  an  example  which 
comes  nearer  home.  I  will  speak  to  you  of  what 
has  been  done  by  little  boys  of  seven,  of  eight,  of 
twelve,  of  thirteen,  as  young  as  the  youngest  of 
you  ;  little  English  boys,  and  English  boys  with 
very  few  advantages  of  birth,  not  brought  up  as 
most  of  you  are,  in  quiet,  orderly  homes,  but  taken 
from  rough  workhouses.  I  will  speak  to  you  of 
what  such  little  boys  have  done,  not  three  thou- 
sand, or  fifceen  hundred,  or  two  hundred  years 
ago,  but  last  week — last  Wednesday^ — on  this  very 
river  Thames.  Do  you  know  what  I  am  thinking 
•of?  It  is  of  the  little  boys  who  were  brought 
'  December  22,  1875. 

D  2 


36  THE  'GOLIATH'   BOYS.        serm,  iv. 

from  different  workhouses  in  London,  nearly  five 
hundred,  and  were  put  to  school  to  be  trained  as 
sailors  on  board  the  ship  which  was  called  after 
the  name  of  the  giant  whom  David  slew — the 
training-ship  Goliath^  down  the  Thames.  This 
great  ship  suddenly,  about  eight  o'clock  on  Wed- 
nesday morning,  caught  fire.  It  was  hardly  light ; 
one  of  these  dark  winter  mornings  when  we  can 
hardly  see  to  dress  ourselves.  In  three  minutes 
the  ship  was  on  fire  from  one  end  to  the  other, 
and  the  fire-bell  ran^  to  call  the  boys  each  to  his 
post.  What  did  they  do  ?  Think  of  the  sudden 
surprise,  the  sudden  danger,  the  flames  rushing  all 
round  them,  and  the  dark  cold  water  below  them. 
Did  they  cry,  or  scream,  or  run,  or  fly  about 
in  confusion  ?  No,  they  ran  each  to  his  proper 
place  ;  they  had  been  trained  to  do  it ;  they  knew 
it  was  their  duty,  and  no  one  forgot  himself,  none 
lost  his  presence  of  mind.  They  all,  as  the 
captain  says,  '  behaved  like  men.'  Then,  when 
it  was  found  impossible  to  save  the  ship,  those 
who  could  swim,  at  the  command  of  the  captain, 
jumped  into  the  water,  and  swam  for  their  lives. 
Some  at  his  command  got  into  a  boat ;  and  then, 
when  the  sheets  of  flame  and  clouds  of  smoke 
came  pouring  out  of   the   ship   upon   them,   the 


SERM.  IV.         THE   'GOLIATH'  BOYS.  37 

smaller  boys  for  a  moment  were  frightened,  and 
wanted  to  push  away.  But  there  was  one  among 
them — the  little  mate — his  name  was  William 
Bolton.  We  are  proud  here  that  he  came  from 
Westminster.  A  quiet  boy,  they  tell  us,  and  one 
much  loved  by  his  comrades.  He  had  the  sense 
and  the  courage  to  say,  '  No ;  we  must  stay  and 
help  those  that  are  still  in  the  ship.'  He  kept  the 
barge  alongside  of  the  ship  as  long  as  possible, 
and  was  thus  the  means  of  saving  more  than  one 
hundred  lives.  -  And  there  were  others,  who  were 
still  in  the  ship  while  the  flames  went  on  spreading, 
and  they  came  and  stood  by  the  good  captain  who 
had  been  so  kind  to  them  all,  and  whom  they  all 
loved  so  much ;  and  in  that  dreadful  moment  they 
thought  more  of  him  than  of  themselves ;  and  one 
threw  his  arms  round  his  neck,  and  said,  '  You'll 
be  burnt,  captain  ;'  and  another  said,  'Save  your- 
self before  the  rest.'  But  the  captain  gave  them  the 
best  of  all  lessons  at  that  moment;  he  said,  'That's 
not  the  way  at  sea,  my  boys.'  He  meant  to  say — ■ 
and  they  quite  understood  what  he  meant — that  the 
way  at  sea  is  to  prepare  for  danger  beforehand,  to 
meet  it  manfully  when  it  comes,  and  to  look  at  the 
safety  not  of  oneself,  but  of  others.  '  And  thus,'  as 
says  the  public  journal  in  speaking  of  it,  '  the  captain 


38  THE   'GOLIATH'  BOYS.        serm.  iv. 

not  only  had  learned  that  good  old  way  himself,  but 

knew  how  to  teach  it  to  the  boys  under  his  charge.' 

And  now  let  me  ask  you  to  consider  what  wc 

may  all  learn  from  this  story  of  the  good  conduct 

of  the  boys  in  the   Goliath  ship.     First,  what  an 

encouragement  it  is  to  parents,  teachers,  nurses,  all 

who    do   anything   for  children,  as    showing   that 

their   labour  is  not  spent  in  vain  !      These  little 

boys  were  taken  from  a  rough,    neglected   class, 

which  had  before  been   a   trouble   and   vexation 

to  all  about  them.     By  the  foresight  and  energy 

of  the  Minister  of  State  who  began  this  system 

of  training-ships,  and  then  by  the  constant,  genial, 

wise  kindness    of  the    captain   and   his  wife  and 

daughters,  always  having  a  kind  word   and   look 

for  these  little  boys,  making  them  feel  their  ship  to 

be  their  home,  instructing  them  in  habits  of  order 

and   duty  and   religion,  they  were   being  trained 

to  be  the  servants  of  their  country  and  their  God 

in  that  noble  profession  of  an  English  sailor.    And 

now  that  they  have  been  suddenly  put  on  their 

trial  in  this  great  calamity,  we  see  how  all  this  had 

told  upon  them.     What  seeds  of  goodness  were 

there  in  these  little  hearts  !  what  energy  given  to 

those  litde  minds  !     This  is  what  education'  can 

do  ;  this  is  what  can  be  done  by  making  a  good 


SERM.  IV.         THE   '  GOLIA  TW   BO  YS.  39 

beginning.  I  know,  we  all  know,  that  good  be- 
ginnings may  have  bad  endings  ;  that  these  little 
heroes,  as  we  may  call  them,  of  the  Goliath  ship 
may,  if  they  are  spoiled  by  foolish  flattery,  or  meet 
with  wicked  companions,  turn  out  very  differently 
from  what  they  are  now.  There  has  been  a  dreadful 
example,  within  the  last  month,  of  one  who  began 
as  a  charming,  enterprising,  intelligent,  religious 
boy,  but  who,  from  giving  way  to  evil  courses  and 
bad  associates,  ended  in  committing  a  frightful 
crime,  and  died '  last  week,  with  the  infamy  of  a 
selfish,  hard-hearted  murderer.^  But  these  things 
are  the  exceptions.  Let  us  hope  and  believe  that 
whenever  care,  forethought,  and  kindness  are  ex- 
erted on  young  children,  they  will  lead  the  rest  of 
their  lives  according  to  that  good  beginning.  It 
is  the  best  we  can  do  for  them  ;  it  is  the  best  we 
can  do  for  our  country. 

And  you,  children,  turn  your  thoughts  once 
again  back  to  that  burning  ship,  and  the  example 
of  the  little  boys  all  doing  their  duty  so  nobly. 
What  is  it  that  this  teaches  you  ?  It  teaches  you 
that  you  ought  to  be  always  ready  to  do  what  is 
right  at  a  moment's  notice.  These  boys  could 
never  have  guessed,  when  they  got  up  on  the 
-  Wainwritjht. 


40  THE    'GOLIATH'   BOYS.         serm.  iv. 

morning  of  that  day,  that  in  three  minutes  they 
^vould  have  to  be  all  working  to  save  their  lives, 
and  the  lives  of  those  about  them.  But  they  were 
ready,  and  they  did  it.  There  is  a  fine  old  motto 
of  an  old  Scottish  family,  '  Ready,  aye  ready '  : 
let  that  be  your  motto.  When  a  sudden  alarm 
comes — perhaps  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  night, 
perhaps  some  other  danger — try  to  keep  what  is 
called  presence  of  mind  ;  do  not  run  about  here 
and  there,  as  if  you  had  lost  your  senses,  but  be 
quiet,  be  calm.  Do  what  you  are  bid,  and  you  may 
save  father,  mother,  brothers,  and  sisters.  And 
again,  when  a  sudden  temptation  comes  upon  you 
to  go  after  what  is  wrong,  saying  foolish,  filthy 
words,  or  telling  a  lie,  or  over-eating  yourselves, 
or  being  unkind,  remember  those  boys  in  the 
Goliath.  They  stood  firm  to  what  they  knew 
was  their  duty.  They  stood  firm  though  the 
flames  were  raging  round  them  ;  they  were  like  the 
three  children  in  the  midst  of  the  burning  fiery 
furnace,  who  were  as  true  to  their  conscience,  and  as 
calm,  as  though  the  fire  had  been  a  moist  whisthng 
wind.  And  remember  how,  when  those  who  were 
in  the  boat  were  a  moment  dismayed,  there  was 
one,  the  little  mate,  who  had  the  courage  to  persist 
in  keeping  close  to  the  ship,  and  so  saved  many, 


THE   'GOLIATH'   BOYS.  41 


many  of  his  dear  friends.  Be  like  that  Httle  mate  : 
when  you  are  pressed  to  do  anything  wrong,  have 
the  boldness  to  say  No.  A  very  wise  man  has  said 
that  any  one  who  has  learnt  to  say  No  has  made 
the  first  step  to  being  a  good,  useful,  great  man. 
Do  not  care  how  many  there  may  be  against  you  ; 
do  not  think  of  the  trouble  of  doing  right.  Do  it,  and 
take  the  consequences.  Even  if  the  burning  masts 
had  fallen  upon  the  Goliath  boys  and  killed  them 
all,  it  would  have  been  better  for  them  all  to  have 
died  in  that  way,  and  be  buried  by  the  little  boy 
who  is  this  day  laid  to  rest  in  the  village  church 
of  Grays,  than  that  they  should  have  weakly 
given  way,  and  shown  the  white  feather,  or 
failed  in  one  atom  of  their  duty.  And  think  what 
a  reward,  what  an  exceeding  great  reward,  you  give 
to  your  parents  and  your  teachers  by  any  such 
good  conduct.  When  that  little  boy  clasped  his 
arms  round  the  captain's  neck,  and  begged  him  to 
go,  and  said,  '  You'll  be  burnt,  captain,  if  you  stay,' 
do  not  you  think  that  that  moment  must  have  made 
up  to  the  captain  for  all  the  trouble  and  pains  he 
had  spent  on  these  boys,  to  see  that  they  loved  him, 
and  would  have  given  their  lives  for  him  ?  Remem- 
ber that  short  speech  of  the  captain  when  they 
asked  him  to  leave  the  ship  :  'That's  not  the  way  at 


42  THE  '  GOLIA  TW  BO  YS.        serm.  iv. 

sea,  my  boys.'  That  is  the  best  advice  for  all  of  us. 
"VVe  are  all  on  our  voyage  through  life,  over  many 
waves  of  this  troublesome  world.  There  is  one  way 
of  getting  out  of  these  troubles — it  is  by  selfishly 
thinking  of  ourselves,  by  leaving  our  companions 
in  the  wood,  by  taking  the  best  for  ourselves,  by 
avoiding  risk  and  danger  and  pain,  and  seeking  our 
own  profit  and  pleasure.  This  is  what  is  done  by 
many  children,  and  by  many  men.  'But  that  is 
not  the  way  at  sea,  my  boys.'  It  is  the  way  of  the 
world.  It  is  the  way  of  cowards,  and  spendtlirifts, 
and  spoiled  children,  and  selfish  men  ;  but  it  is  not 
the  way  of  English  sailors,  it  is  not  the  way  of 
Christian  Englishmen,  it  is  not  the  way  to  noble 
lives  and  glorious  deaths.  There  'is  the  way  at 
sea ' — the  way  of  standing  by  your  post  till  the  last, 
doing  your  duty  whatever  comes,  thinking  more  of 
others  than  of  yourself,  jumping  into  the  face 
of  danger  rather  than  flying  away  in  dishonour, 
working  away  quietly  and  calmly  and  manfully  to 
do  as  much  good  as  you  can  whilst  life  is  granted 
to  you.  'That's  the  way  at  sea,  my  boys.'  That 
was  the  way  of  the  boys  in  the  burning  ship.  That 
is  the  way  in  which  England's  sailors,  like  Commo- 
dore Goodenough,  have  won  for  themselves  an 
immortal  name.    That  is  the  way  of  good  children, 


SERM.  IV.         THE   'GOLIATH'  BOYS.  43 

honourable  boys,  and  gallant  men  ;  the  way  of 
Christian  heroes  and  Christian  martyrs.  That  is 
the  way  in  which  we  trust  that  this  day  will  teach 
you  to  walk  henceforth,  and  till  the  latest  day  of 
your  lives. 


V. 

THE  CHILDREN'S  PSALMS. 

(December  28,  1876.) 

Out  of  the  inotith  of  babes  and  sucklings  hast  Thou  or- 
darned  strength.  — Ps.  viii.  2.  Like  as  the  arjvws  in  the  hand 
of  the  giant,  even  so  are  the  young  children. — Ps.  cxxvii.  5 
(Prayer  Book  version).  Lord,  zuho  shall  abide  in  Thy  taber- 
nacle? who  shall  dwell  in  Thy  holy  hill? — Ps.  xv.  I. 

When,  year  by  year,  we  see  a  congregation  of  chil- 
dren with  their  parents  assembled,  it  is,  or  ought  to 
be,  a  joy  and  comfort  to  those  who  feel  the  burden 
of  life,  the  darkening  shades  of  sorrow,  and  the 
weight  of  care.  Why  is  this?  Why  is  the  sight 
of  children  a  consolation?  Parents,  perhaps,  will 
understand  best  what  I  have  to  say  at  first,  although 
I  shall  also  have  to  say  something  which  children 
will  understand  for  themselves.  I  have  taken  these 
verses  from  the  three  Psalms  which  are  sung  on  occa- 
sion of  these  gatherings  to  express  what  I  mean. 
I.  The  first  is  from  the  eighth  Psalm.     That  is 


SERM.  V.      THE   CHILDREN'S  PSALMS.  45 

a  Psalm  which  ahnost  certainly  was  written  by 
David.  He  wishes  to  unravel  his  thoughts,  and  to 
have  a  clear  idea  of  God ;  and  he  finds  it  in  two 
things  ;  in  the  moon  and  the  stars,  which  we  see 
in  the  sky  on  a  cloudless  night,  and  which  cause  him 
to  think  of  the  order  with  which  this  great  universe 
has  been  arranged  ;  and  in  the  bright  faces  and  the 
blameless  talk  of  little  children.  Little  children 
give  him  an  idea  of  what  man,  who  was  born  in 
the  image  of  God,  was  meant  to  be.  No  doubt 
there  are  bad  children,  naughty  children  ;  and 
even  in  good  children  there  is  something  which 
may  become  very  bad.  Still,  in  children  there 
is  an  innocence,  a  lightness  of  heart,  an  ignorance 
of  evil,  a  joyousness,  and  a  simplicity,  which  ought 
to  be  refreshing  to  every  one.  It  was  this  which 
made  our  Saviour  so  fond  of  them — taking  them 
up  in  His  arms  and  saying, '  Of  such  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  ; '  and  it  is  this  which  is  well  expressed 
by  a  good  English  poet,  who  says,  as  he  looks  back 
regretfully  to  his  childhood — 

Happy  those  early  days  when  I 
Shined  in  my  angel  infancy  ; 

Before  I  taught  my  tongue  to  wound 
My  conscience  with  a  sinful  sound  ; 


46  THE   CHILDREN'S  PSALMS,      serm.  v. 

But  felt  through  all  this  fleshly  dress 
Bright  shoots  of  everlastingness. 
Oh,  how  I  long  to  travel  back, 
And  tread  again  that  ancient  track  ! ' 

And  this  it  is,  also,  which  gives  a  soothing  thought 
to  any  who  have  lost  their  darHngs  in  infancy  or  in 
early  childhood.  Their  lives  were  complete.  They 
had  shown  us  the  glory  of  God  in  their  dear  little 
ways.  They  have  gone  to  be  with  Him.  '  We 
reckon  not  by  years  and  months  where  they  have 
gone  to  dwell.'  May  I  read  to  you  the  words  of  a 
great  scholar  and  philosopher  ^  after  the  death  of  a 
sweet  daughter?  Parents  may  take  the  words  to 
themselves,  and  children  may  know  from  them 
what  a  comfort  they  may  be  for  their  parents  if 
they  have  been  good  and  gentle  and  diligent.  *  As 
soon  as  her  last  breath  was  gone  I  was  able  to 
thank  God  that  He  had  taken  my  child  into  His 
arms,  where  she  is  safe  for  ever  from  all  the  troubles 
and  the  sorrows  of  life.  The  first  chapter  of  her 
existence  has  closed.  Who  knows  what  troubles 
might  have  been  in  store  for  her?  But  she  was 
found  worthy  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as  a 
litde  child  Here  we  have  toiled  for  many  years, 
and   been   troubled   with  many  questionings,  but 

'  Henry  Vaughan,  The  Retreat.  ^  Max  Miiller. 


SERM.  V.      THE   CHILDREN'S  PSALMS.  47 

what  is  the  end  of  it  all  ?  We  must  learn  to  become 
simple  again  like  little  children.  That  is  all  we 
have  a  right  to  be ;  for  this  life  was  meant  to  be 
the  childhood  of  our  souls,  and  the  more  we  try 
to  be  what  we  were  meant  to  be,  the  better  for  us. 
Let  us  use  the  powers  of  our  minds  with  the  greatest 
freedom  and  love  of  truth  ;  but  let  us  never  forget 
that  we  are,  as  Newton  said.  "  like  children  playing 
on  the  sea  shore,  while  the  great  ocean  of  truth  lies 
undiscovered  before  us."' 

II.  But  we  must  not,  in  thinking  of  children, 
think  only  of  them  in  the  past.  We  must  think  of 
their  future  ;  and  here  let  us  look  at  another  Psalm, 
the  hundred  and  twenty  seventh,  a  Psalm  which 
some  of  the  Jewish  teachers  long  ago  thought  might 
have  been  written  by  the  great  King  Solomon. 
At  any  rate,  it  expresses  what  a  man  of  vast  ex- 
perience of  human  life  might  well  have  said.  It 
tells  us  that  we  must  console  ourselves  in  the  sor- 
rows and  troubles  of  the  present  time  by  thinking 
of  what  the  children  who  stand  around  us  may  be 
in  the  time  which  is  coming.  They  are  like  the 
arrows  which  a  mighty  archer  can  shoot  far  away 
into  the  distance  and  the  darkness,  and  so  strike  a 
target  which  we,  perhaps,  can  hardly  see,  but  which, 
if  these  little  arrows  are  winged  with  good  thoughts, 


48  THE   CHILDREN'S  PSALMS,      serm.  v. 

and  pointed  with  good  resolves,  and  polished  by 
a  good  training,  they  will  surely  reach.  We  may 
sometimes,  as  we  look  towards  the  immediate 
future  of  our  country,  think  sadly  perhaps  how 
few  great  characters  or  glorious  gifts  there  are  to 
enlighten  the  close  of  this  nineteenth  century,  as 
we  and  our  fathers  were  enlightened  by  the  great 
characters  and  the  glorious  gifts  of  those  who 
adorned  its  beginning.  But  our  consolation  may  be 
that  those  who  are  the  children  of  this  generation 
shall  grow  up  to  fill  this  void,  and  to  comfort  those 
who  are  still  unborn.  Amongst  the  children  who 
are  now  present  here^  there  must  be  many  who  will 
hve  to  the  twentieth  century.  Let  them  remember, 
when  the  first  year  of  the  next  century  shall  dawn 
upon  them,  that  they  were  called  upon,  as  now  in 
this  Abbey,  to  take  their  part  in  rendering  their 
country  a  great,  a  happy,  and  a  Christian  nation. 
Where  we  have  failed,  let  them  succeed  ;  where  we 
have  succeeded,  let  them  improve ;  where  we  have 
lost,  let  them  recover.  Happy  is  that  country  which 
has  its  quiver  full  of  good,  strong,  active,  honest. 
Christian  children.  She  shall  not  be  afraid  when 
she  speaks  with  her  enemies  in  the  gate.  There  is 
a  long,  long  day  before  many  of  you.  Make  the 
very  most  of  it.     Let  us  feel  assured  that  when  we 


SER^f.  V.      THE   CHILDREN'S  PSALMS.  49 

die  and  pass  away  we  shall  have  left  our  country, 
our  religion,  and  our  honour,  safe  in  your  hands. 

III.  And  this  brings  me  to  the  third  lesson 
which  we  may  take  from  these  Psalms.  The 
fifteenth  Psalm  also  is  almost  certainly  written  by 
David.  It  was  what  he  wrote,  we  may  suppose, 
when  he  had  conquered  Jerusalem,  and  asked  who 
was  worthy  to  live  in  the  holy  city  ;  that  is.  what 
are  the  characters  that  God  loves  and  wishes  to  be 
with  Him  ?  There  is  no  difficulty  in  understanding 
what  David  says  in  the  verses  which  follow  the 
first ;  and  when  people  talk  of  the  difficulty  of 
teaching  religion  to  children,  let  them  remember 
these  verses  of  the  fifteenth  Psalm.  They  will 
find  how  very  easily  they  can  be  learned,  and 
how  very  easily  they  can  be  applied.  I  will  try 
to  apply  them  now ;  and  so  I  turn  to  you,  my 
children,  and  having  told  you  how  much  we  and 
your  country  expect  from  you,  I  will  tell  you 
who  it  is  that  shall  be  thought  worthy  of  the  house 
of  God  and  His  holy  hill ;  and  I  will  ask  those  who 
are  parents  and  friends,  or  who  have  any  influence 
over  any  of  these  children,  to  try  to  make  a  good 
atmosphere  round  about  them,  so  that  these 
conditions  may  become  possible  and  easy  for  them. 
What,  then,  is  it  that  we  may  recommend  to  all 

E 


50  THE   CHILDREN'S  PSALMS,      serm.  v. 

children  if  they  would  wish  to  please  their  parents, 
to  please  God,  and  to  go  to  heaven  ?  Love  honest 
work.  Love  to  get  knowledge.  Never  forget  to 
say  your  prayers  morning  and  evening,  never  be 
ashamed  to  say  them.  It  will  help  you  to  be  good 
all  through  the  day.  Always  keep  your  promises. 
Do  not  pick  up  foolish  and  dirty  stories.  Never, 
never  tell  a  lie.  Never  strike,  or  hurt,  or  be  rude 
to  a  woman  or  a  giri,  or  to  any  one  weaker  or 
younger  than  yourselves.  Be  ready  even  to  risk 
your  own  lives  to  save  a  friend,  or  a  companion,  or 
a  brother,  or  a  sister.  Be  very  kind  to  poor  dumb 
animals.  Never  put  them  to  pain.  They  are 
God's  creatures  as  well  as  you  ;  and  if  you  hurt 
them  you  will  become  brutal  and  base  yourselves. 
Remember  always  to  be  gentle  and  attentive  to 
older  people.  Listen,  and  do  not  interrupt  when 
they  are  talking.  If  you  have  an  old  father  or 
grandfather,  or  a  sick  uncle  or  aunt,  remember  not 
to  disturb  them  by  loud  talking  or  rough  playing. 
Be  careful  and  tender  to  them.  You  cannot  think 
what  good  it  does  them.  And  if  it  should  hap- 
pen that  any  amongst  you  have  poor  fathers  or 
poor  mothers  who  have  to  get  up  early  in  order  to 
go  about  their  business,  and  to  earn  their  bread 
and  your  bread,  remember  what  a  pleasure  it  will 


SEKM.  V.      THE    CHILDREN'S  PSALMS.  51 


be  to  them  to  find  that  their  little  boy  or  their  little 
girl  has  been  out  of  bed  before  them  on  a  cold 
winter  morning,  and  lighted  a  bright,  blazing  fire, 
so  as  to  give  them  a  warm  cup  of  tea.  Think 
what  pleasure  it  will  be  to  them  if  they  are  sick,  or 
if  they  are  deaf,  or  if  they  are  blind,  to  find  a  little 
boy  or  a  little  girl  to  speak  to  them,  to  read  to 
them,  and  to  lead  them  about.  But  there  is  not 
only  the  comfort  which  is  experienced  in  being 
thus  helped;  there  is  the  still  greater  comfort  of 
knowing  that  they  have  a  good  little  son  or  a  good 
little  daughter  who  is  anxious  to  assist  them,  and 
who,  they  feel  sure,  will  be  a  joy,  and  not  a  trouble 
to  them,  by  day  and  by  night.  No  Christmas 
present  can  be  so  welcome  to  any  father  and 
mother  as  the  belief  that  their  children  are 
growing  up  truthful,  manly,  courageous,  courteous, 
unselfish,  and  religious.  And  do  not  think  that 
any  of  these  things  are  too  much  for  any  of  you. 
I  know  that  many  of  you  have  great  temptations. 
Perhaps  you  may  have  homes  where  it  is  very 
difficult  to  be  tidy  and  clean.  Perhaps,  as  you  go 
to  school  along  the  streets,  there  may  be  wicked 
people  who  endeavour  to  lead  you  astray,  and  who 
try  to  make  you  steal,  and  use  bad  words.  Yet  I 
am  sure  that,  if  you  do  your  best,  you  will  find 

E  2 


52  THE   CHILDREN'S  PSALMS,     serm.  v. 

such  delight  in  doing  your  duty  that  you  will  go 
on  in  what  is  good.  Let  the  good  frighten  the 
bad  ;  let  the  light  drive  away  the  darkness  ;  let 
the  whole  world  know  that  there  are  little  English 
boys  and  girls  who  are  determined  to  do  their  duty 
whatever  befalls  them.  Some  of  you  may  re- 
member that,  last  year,  I  spoke  of  the  gallant  boys 
who  behaved  so  well  on  board  the  Goliath  ship 
when  it  was  on  fire.  Well,  these  same  boys  have 
just  begun  their  training  over  again.  It  was  only 
on  Tuesday  last  that  they  got  on  board  their  new 
ship,  the  Exmouih ;  and  there  they  are  working  for 
their  country  once  more.  God  bless  and  prosper 
them,  and  may  they  still  be  examples  to  all  of  us. 
It  was  only  the  other  day,  also,  that  I  heard  of  a 
brave,  modest  little  boy — Hammond  Parker  was 
his  name — who  was  only  just  fourteen  years  of  age, 
but  who  had  saved,  at  different  times,  the  lives  of 
no  fewer  than  four  other  boys  by  plunging  into 
the  rough  sea  after  them  on  the  coast  of  Norfolk, 
Now,  that  shows  what  you  may  all  do— not, 
perhaps,  by  plunging  into  the  stormy  sea,  but,  at 
any  rate,  by  saving  little  brothers  or  little  sisters 
from  going  wrong.  You  can  do  far  more  for  them 
than,  perhaps,  any  one  else,  because  you  are 
always  with  them.     Stand  by  them,  protect  them  ; 


SERM.  V.       THE    CHILDREN'S  PSALMS.  53 

Stand  by  each  other  ;  and  then  the  foohsh,  wicked, 
and  cruel  people  who  want  to  mislead  you  will 
very  soon  run  away.  Bad  people  are  almost 
always  afraid  of  good  people,  even  though  the 
good  are  much  fewer  ;  even,  indeed,  though  the 
good  may  be  only  a  little  child.  I  knew  once  a 
very  famous  man  (it  was  Adam  Sedgwick),  who 
lived  to  be  eighty-eight  years  old,  and  who  was  the 
delight  of  every  one  about  him.  He  always  stood 
u])  for  what  was  right.  His  eye  was  like  the  eagle's 
when  it  flashed  fire  against  what  was  wrong.  And 
how  early  do  you  think  he  began  to  do  this  ?  I 
have  an  old  grammar  which  belonged  to  him,  all 
tattered  and  torn,  which  he  had  when  he  was  a 
little  boy  at  school ;  and  what  do  I  find  written  in 
his  own  hand  on  the  first  page  of  it  ?  I  find  these 
words  from  Shakespeare  :  '  Still  in  thy  right  hand 
carry  gentle  peace,  to  silence  envious  tongues.  Be 
just  and  fear  not.'  That  was  his  rule  all  through 
life,  and  he  was  loved  and  honoured  down  to  the 
day  when  he  was  borne  to  his  grave.  Be  just,  be 
good,  and  fear  not.  Let  that  be  your  rule  ;  and  God 
and  Jesus  Christ  will  be  with  you  now  and  always. 


VI. 
SICK   CHILDREN. 

(December  28,  1877.) 

Is  it  well  with  the  child?  .  .  .  It  is  well."^ — 2  Kings  iv.  26. 

I  HAVE  usually  spoken  to  you  on  this  day  of  the 
life  and  happiness  of  children.  I  wish  to  speak  to 
you  this  evening  of  the  sufferings  and  sorrows  of 
children,  and  concerning  children — or  rather,  I  will 
say,  of  the  happiness  which  out  of  their  sufferings 
and  sorrows  God  intends  to  bring  to  us. 

First  let  me  speak  of  the  death  of  children.  It 
is  one  of  the  chief  thoughts  placed  before  us  by  the 
Festival  of  the  Linocejits — the  Holy  Innocents,  as 
they  are  called.  We  know  nothing  about  those 
little  children  of  Bethlehem,  except  that  they  died. 
What  is  the  good  which  can  be  brought  to  any  of 

'  I  have  been  reminded  that  a  sermon  on  this  text  was 
preached  by  Dr.  Doddridge  on  the  death  of  a  beloved  child, 
the  words  having  been  written  actually  on  the  child's  coffin. 


SERM.  VI.  STCK  CHILDREN.  55 

US,  old  or  young,  by  the  death  of  those  dear  httle 
ones,  who  had  been  lent  to  us  for  so  short  a  time 
that  we  seem  to  have  lost  them  almost  before  we 
have  time  to  know  them  ?  '  Is  it  well  with  the 
child  ? '  said  Elisha  to  the  mother  of  the  little  boy 
that  he  had  known  from  his  birth.  The  little  boy 
was  dead ;  but  the  poor  mother  was  still  able  to 
say,  '  It  is  well.'  Yes,  there  are  several  ways  in 
which,  even  in  this  hard  trial,  we  may  say,  '  It  is 
well.'  '  It  is  well,'  because  in  God's  sight  all  that 
happens  is  well,  if  only  we  use  it  rightly.  '  It  is 
well,'  because  the  child  that  dies  in  its  innocence 
is  taken,  if  any  human  creature  is,  to  the  presence 
of  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  Himself  has  told 
us  that  the  characters  of  little  children  are  the 
likeness  of  the  characters  in  heaven.  When  we 
think  of  heaven  we  think  of  them.  '  It  is  well,' 
because  it  makes,  or  ought  to  make,  on  our  hearts 
an  impression  which  perhaps  nothing  else  can 
make.  Even  a  hard-hearted  man,  when  his  child 
dies,  or  his  little  brother  dies,  is  deeply  moved. 
He  thinks  that  he  might  have  been  more  kind 
whilst  they  lived.  He  looks  at  the  little  vacant 
chair,  and  his  eyes  fill  with  tears. 

And  we  are  comforted  by  thinking  of  them. 

I  have  heard  of  a  little  child  dying  with  such 


56  SICK  CHILDREN.  serm.  vi. 

bright  and  beautiful  visions  before  him  that  his 
countenance  was  quite  transfigured,  and  glowed  as 
with  heavenly  colours  ;  and  his  parents,  as  they 
looked  at  him,  were  more  than  consoled.  They 
went  away  strengthened  in  their  faith  and  hopeful 
in  their  good  deeds. 

This  Abbey  is  full  of  the  remembrances  of  great 
men  and  famous  women.  But  it  is  also  full  of  the 
remembrances  of  little  boys  and  girls  whose  death 
shot  a  pang  through  the  hearts  of  those  who  loved 
them,  and  who  wished  that  they  never  should  be 
forgotten. 

Almost  the  earliest  royal  monument  in  this 
Abbey  is  of  a  beautiful  little  deaf  and  dumb  girl  of 
five  years  old — the  Princess  Catherine,  daughter  of 
King  Henry  III.,  who  loved  her  dearly.  She  has 
not  been  forgotten,  nor  have  her  two  little  brothers, 
and  perhaps  four  little  nephews,  who  were  buried 
close  to  her,  as  if  to  keep  her  company.  And  so 
there  are  two  ?mall  tombs  in  Henry  VII. 's  chapel  of 
the  two  infant  daughters  of  King  James  I.  Over 
one  of  them  are  some  touching  lines  written  by  an 
American  lady,  which  all  mothers  should  read. 
And  to  these  tombs  of  these  two  little  girls  were 
brought  in  after  days  by  their  nephew,  Charles  IL, 
the  bones  of  the  two  young  murdered  princes, 


SERM.  VI.  SICK  CHILDREN.  57 

which  in  his  time  were  discovered  at  the  foot  of 
the  staircase  in  the  Tower. 

And  there  is  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Nicholas 
another  tomb  of  a  little  child  that  died  from  a 
mistake  of  its  nurse  ;  and  we  know  ^  from  her  will 
that  she  never  ceased  to  lament  the  little  darling, 
and  begged  very  urgently,  if  possible,  to  be  buried 
beside  it.  And  there  is  in  the  cloisters  the 
monument  mentioned  on  a  previous  occasion,^ 
which  contains  only  these  words,  'Jane  Lister, 
dear  child,'  with  the  date  and  the  record  of  her 
brother's  previous  death.  It  is  an  inscription  which 
goes  to  the  heart  of  every  one.  It  was  in  the  year 
1688,  just  a  month  before  the  great  English 
Revolution,  but  the  parents  thought  only  of  '  Jane 
Lister,'  their  '  dear  child.' 

Do  not  forget  the  dead  children.  They  are 
not  forgotten  in  Westminster  Abbey,  they  ought 
never  to  be  forgotten  elsewhere.  T^Iothers,  parents, 
who,  like  Rachel,  mourn  for  some  dear  daughter 
or  son,  think  that  they  are  still  yours,  to  animate 
and  urge  you  forwards.  That  was  a  true  answer 
which  the  little  girl  made  to  the  poet  Wordsworth, 
w^ho  asked  how  many  they  were — 

-  Colonel   Chester's   edition  of   The  Registers  of  West- 
minster Abbey,  p.  220.  ^  See  p.  20. 


S8  SICK   CHILDREN.  serm.  vi. 

'  Seven  boys  and  girls  are  we ; 

Two  of  us  in  the  churchyard  lie, 

Beneath  the  churchyard  tree.' 

'  How  many  are  you, then  ?  '  said  I, 

'  If  they  two  are  in  heaven  ?  ' 
Quick  was  the  little  Maid's  reply, 
'  O  Master,  we  are  seven  ! ' 

And  there  is  another  beautiful  poem  by  the  father 
of  three  sons  :  ^  two  were  Hvi  ng,  but  the  third  was 
dead.     Of  him  he  thus  speaks  : — 

I  have  a  son — a  third  sweet  son  ;  his  age  I  cannot  tell, 
For  they  reckon  not  by  years  and  months  where  he  is  gone 

to  dwell.   .   .   . 
I  cannot  tell  what  form  is  his,  what  look  he  weareth  now. 
Nor  guess  how  bright  a  glory  crowns  his  shining  seraph 

brow.   .   .   . 

But  I  know,  for  God  doth  tell  me  this,  that  he  is  now  at 

rest. 
Where  other  blessed  infants  be,  on  their  Saviour's  loving 

breast.   .   .   . 
Whate'er   befall  his  brethren    twain,    his   bliss   can   never 

cease  ; 
Their   lot  may  here  be  grief  and   fear,   but  his   is  certain 

peace. 

But  I  would  not  speak  only  of  dead  children. 

I  will  speak  of  sick  children,  of  children  who  have 

some   illness   or   infirmity,  crippled,   or   weak,    or 

ailing,  like  some  of  those  who  are  here  to-day  from 

^  Moultrie's  poem  on  '  The  Three  Sons,' 


SERM.  VI.  SICK  CHILDREN.  59 

the  Royal  Infirmary  for  Children.  ^Is  it  iveW  y^\\h. 
those  suffering  little  ones  ?  Yes,  '  it  is  well,'  for 
th^m  and  for  us,  if  we  take  the  sickness  as  it  is 
intended  by  our  heavenly  !Father. 

There  is  a  beautiful  picture,  by  the  famous 
painter  Holbein,  of  a  family  who  are  praying,  or 
perhaps  giving  thanks,  for  the  recovery  of  their 
sick  child ;  and  the  prayer  is  supposed  to  be 
granted  by  the  appearance  of  the  child  Jesus  in 
the  midst  of  the  family,  happy  and  strong,  whilst 
the  poor  sickly  child  is  represented  as  in  the  arms 
of  the  Virgin  Mother,  taken  as  her  own.  That  is 
a  likeness  to  us  of  what  we  ought  to  hope  for  in 
the  case  of  our  sick  and  ailing  children.  The  sick- 
ness may  perhaps  continue,  but  the  sufferer  may 
be  under  the  protection  of  our  good  Father,  and 
nursed  as  it  were  for  Himself;  and  amongst  us 
the  child,  the  inner  spirit  of  the  child,  which  will 
grow  up  amidst  suffering  and  weakness,  is  like  the 
spirit  of  the  holy  child  Jesus,  happy  and  strong, 
and  pure  and  good. 

Sickness  and  illness  may  make  a  child  fretful 
and  selfish,  and  the  people  about  a  sick  child  may 
spoil  it  by  giving  up  everything  to  it,  and  encourag- 
ing it  to  ask  for  everything.  But  it  may  also  teach 
a  child  to  be  patient  and  considerate,  and  grateful 


6o  SICK  CHILDREN.  serm.  vi. 


for  all  the  care  it  gets  ;  and  then,  instead  of  being 
a  source  of  sorrow  and  vexation  in  the  household, 
it  becomes  a  source  of  instruction  and  comfort  to 
all. 

I  will  try  to  make  this  clear  to  you  from  several 
examples.  One  is  taken  from  a  story  :  it  is  one 
which  some  of  you  may  have  read,  called  the 
'  Heir  of  Redclyffe.'  In  that  story  is  described  a 
sickly  boy  called  Charles.  He  is,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  story,  like  one  of  those  fretful,  peevish  in- 
valids of  whom  I  spoke  just  now  ;  speaking  sharply 
and  crossly  to  every  one,  and  making  every  one's 
will  bend  to  his.  But  in  the  course  of  the  story 
there  comes  into  the  house  another  boy  full  of 
health  and  life,  but  also  full  of  generosity  and 
kindness,  and  the  sickly,  selfish  boy  turns  over  a 
new  leaf  \  his  character  is  transformed  as  the  story 
goes  on.  He  still  remains  a  suffering  cripple,  but 
he  becomes  the  stay  and  support  of  the  house  ; 
instead  of  always  demanding  comfort  from  them, 
he,  in  all  the  troubles  of  the  family,  gives  comfort 
to  all  the  others. 

This  is  from  a  story,  an  imaginary  tale  of  what 
might  happen.  Now  I  will  tell  you  of  what  has 
happened.  It  is  a  contrast  between  two  boys  in 
Scotland,  to  which  my  attention  was  called  some 


SERM.  VI.  SICK  CHILDREN.  6i 

time  ago  by  an  excellent  Scottish  judge,  now  dead/^ 
They  were  boys  who  both  became  famous  in  after 
life,  and  many  of  you  have  heard  of  their  names. 
One  was  Lord  Byron,  the  other  was  Sir  Walter 
Scott.  Well,  both  these  boys  had  the  same  kind 
of  misfortune.  Both  Lord  Byron  and  Walter  Scott, 
from  their  earliest  years,  were  lame.  Each  of  them 
had  what  is  called  a  club  foot,  or  something  very 
like  it.  But  now  what  was  the  different  effect  pro- 
duced by  this  lame  foot  on  the  two  boys  ?  Lord 
Byron,  who  was  a  perverse,  selfish  boy,  was  made 
by  this  club  foot  discontented  and  angry  wuth  every 
one  about  him.  It  entered  like  iron  into  his  soul.  It 
poisoned  his  heart.  It  set  him  against  all  mankind, 
and  it  injured  his  whole  character.  He  had  a 
splendid  genius,  but  amidst  many  fine  qualities  it 
was  a  genius  blackened  and  discoloured  by  hatred, 
malice,  uncharitableness,  and  the  deepest  gloom. 
Walter  Scott,  on  the  other  hand,  never  lost  his 
cheerfulness.  His  lame  foot  made  him  turn  to  the 
reading  of  good  old  books,  and  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  beautiful  sights  and  sounds  about  him,  and 
he  too  grew  to  be  a  great  poet  and  the  writer  of 
stories  which  will  live  in  every  age  and  in  every 
country.  But  in  him  the  lameness  which  he  had 
*  Lord  Neaves. 


62  SICK  CHILDREN.  serm.  vi. 

borne  patiently  and  cheerfully  in  childhood  never 
interfered  with  his  kindliness  and  his  good-humour 
to  those  about  him.  He  was  a  delight  to  all  that 
came  across  him,  and  even  when  he  was  at  last 
overtaken  by  heavier  misfortunes  he  never  lost  his 
loving,  generous  disposition.  The  lameness  which 
in  Byron  turned  to  what  St.  Paul  calls  a  savour  of 
death  unto  death,  became  in  Walter  Scott  a  savour 
of  life  unto  life. 

This,  then,  is  the  lesson  which  I  would  wish  to 
teach  to  all  children  who  are  sickly  and  suffering, 
or  who  may  become  sickly  and  suffering  :  Do  not 
think  that  you  are  without  an  object,  do  not  think 
that  you  cannot  be  useful,  do  not  think  that  every- 
thing has  gone  against  you.  No.  It  is  well  with 
you :  you  can  be  most  useful,  you  can  be  the 
useful  child ;  and  when  you  grow  up  you  can  be 
the  useful  man  or  the  useful  woman  in  the  home. 
You  can  arrange  plans  of  amusement  for  the  others 
who  are  too  busy  to  arrange  them  for  themselves. 
You  can  show  by  your  constant  cheerfulness  that 
happiness  does  not  depend  on  the  good  things 
which  you  eat,  or  on  the  active  games  which  you 
play,  but  on  a  contented,  joyful  heart.  You  can 
make  them  feel  that  there  is  a  better  world  above, 
where   you   hope  to  be,  and  where   you   may  be 


SERM.  VI.  SICK  CHILDREN.  63 

almost  now,  because  your  thoughts  are  with  God 
and  with  Jesus  Christ.  And  you  children  who  are 
strong  and  healthy,  remember  that  to  you  this 
little  sick  brother  or  little  sick  sister,  is  a  blessing 
that  God  has  given  you.  //  is  well  for  you  to  have 
them.  They  may  not  be  able  to  share  in  your 
games  ;  you  will  often  be  obliged  to  be  quiet  in 
their  sick  room,  or  when  they  come  amongst  you. 
But  that  is  good  for  you,  because  it  makes  you  see 
very  early  the  joy,  the  happiness,  the  usefulness,  of 
having  some  one  weaker  than  yourselves  whom  you 
can  protect ;  some  one  in  pain  or  suffering  to  whom 
you  can  minister  like  a  ministering  angel.  Do  not 
be  hasty  or  angry  with  a  deaf  brother,  or  I  may 
say  a  deaf  mother  or  aunt,  because  they  cannot 
hear  you ;  or  a  blind  sister,  or  I  may  say  a  blind 
father  or  uncle,  because  they  cannot  see  you ;  or 
wath  a  lame  or  deformed  brother  or  cousin  or  com- 
panion, because  they  cannot  take  an  active  part 
in  your  amusements.  No.  They  cannot  do  this  ; 
but  they  can  do  much  better  than  this  for  you, 
because  they  make  you  feel  for  deafness  and  blind- 
ness and  lameness  everywhere.  When  you  have 
seen  it  in  those  you  love,  you  will  be  reminded  of 
it  in  those  you  do  not  love. 

And  if  you  have  had  any  of  these  misfortunes 


64  SICK  CHILDREN,  serm.  vi. 

yourselves,  and  have  grown  out  of  them,  the  recol- 
lection of  what  you  have  suffered  may  make  you 
of  much  use  to  others.  There  is  a  distinguished 
man,  very  high  in  rank,  and  of  absolutely  indispens- 
able value  in  the  public  service  of  his  Church  and 
country,  who  w^hen  a  little  boy  was  very  lame.*^  He 
recovered,  but  he  never  lost  his  fellow^- feeling  for 
lame  people  ;  and  once,  when  we  were  walking 
together,  I  remember  that  he  gave  some  money  to 
a  poor  lame  man  w^ho  opened  the  gate  for  us,  and 
he  told  me  that  he  always  did  so,  in  remembrance 
of  his  own  lameness. 

Learn  to  be  tender  to  your  suffering  brothers  or 
sisters.  You  who  are  sick  or  weakly,  always  keep 
up  that  fellow-feeling.  It  will  make  your  weakness 
or  illness  a  blessing,  and  not  a  curse.  You  w^ho  are 
w^ll  and  have  sick  friends,  you  also  try  to  keep  up 
that  fellow-feeling.  In  the  story  of  EHsha  and  the 
sick  child,  we  are  told  that  when  he  hoped  to  re- 
store the  child  to  health  '  he  went  up  and  lay  upon 
the  child,  and  put  his  mouth  upon  the  child's 
mouth,  and  his  eyes  upon  the  child's  eyes,  and  his 
hands  upon  the  child's  hands ;  and  he  stretched 
himself  upon  the  child,'  and  the  flesh  of  the 
child  waxed  warm.  This  is  a  likeness  of  the  sym- 
^  Archbishop  Tait. 


SERM.  VI.  SICK  CHILDREN.  65 

pathy  which  all  in  health,  whether  old  or  young, 
should  try  to  have  for  those  who  are  in  pain  or 
infirmity.  We  give  life  and  happiness  to  the  sick 
by  giving  them,  as  it  were,  a  taste  of  our  life  and 
happiness  ;  our  words  are  words  to  them,  our  eyes 
are  eyes  to  them,  our  hands  are  hands  to  them. 
There  were  some  sailors  who  were  stranded  on  a 
desert  rock  on  a  freezing  night.  There  was  one 
little  midshipman  amongst  them ;  they  put  their 
clothes  upon  him,  they  covered  him  up.  They  all 
were  found  dead  in  the  morning ;  but,  if  I  remem- 
ber right,  the  little  boy,  through  their  kindness, 
survived — their  w^armth  had  saved  him,  they  died 
that  he  might  live.  And  so,  even  ^Yilhout  such 
great  efforts,  we  should  try  to  put  ourselves  in  the 
place  of  our  sick  and  suffering  companions.  We 
should  tr}^  to  feel  for  them,  as  we  should  wish  them 
to  feel  for  us,  to  tell  them  of  the  happy  and  beau- 
tiful things  of  the  outside  world,  to  make  them 
understand  that  they  are  not  forgotten,  to  show 
them  what  is  the  sphere  in  which  they  can  be  useful. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  hospitals  for  sick 
children  are  so  much  to  be  encouraged.  In  old 
barbarous  heathen  times  the  life  of  a  sick  or  de- 
formed child  was  not  thought  worth  preserving. 
The  sickly  children  were  thrown  on  the  road  as 

F 


66  SICK  CHILDREN.  serm.  vi. 

not  worth  saving.  But  they  are  worth  saving  ; 
they  may  be  the  saving  of  those  about  them.  One 
of  the  first  great  changes  that  were  made  by 
Christianity  was  that  those  sick  children  left  to 
perish  were  adopted  by  kind  men  and  women,  who 
brought  them  up  as  their  own.  And  so  not  only 
in  hospitals,  but  in  every  family  where  there  is  a 
sick  child,  remember  that  it  is  your  duty,  your 
privilege,  to  look  after  such.  If  you  are  kind  to 
them  God  will  be  kind  to  you.  They  are  your 
special  charges ;  they  are  the  good  things  committed 
by  God  to  us  for  our  keeping.  They  are  our  ear- 
liest and  best  teachers  in  the  good  way.  Who- 
ever does  anything  for  them  does  it  to  the  good 
God  and  merciful  Saviour  who  entrusted  them  to 
us.  And  we  shall  not  lose  our  reward.  //  ivill  be 
well  for  the  children  and  //  will  be  zvell  for  us. 


VII. 

ST.   CHRISTOPHER. 

(December  28,  1878.) 

Like  as  the  arrows  in  the  hand  of  the  giant,  even  so  are 
the  young  children. — Ps.  cxxvii.  5. 

There  is  an  old  story,  a  kind  of  Sunday  fairy  tale, 
which  you  may  sometimes  have  seen  represented 
in  pictures  and  statues  in  ancient  churches  (there 
are  two  sculptures  of  it  in  King  Henry  VII.'s 
chapel  in  this  church),  of  a  great  heathen  giant 
who  wished  to  find  out  some  master  that  he  should 
think  worthy  of  his  service,  some  one  stronger 
than  himself.  He  went  about  the  world,  but 
could  find  no  one  stronger.  And  besides  this,  he 
was  anxious  to  pray  to  God,  but  did  not  know  how 
to  do  it.  At  last  he  met  with  a  good  old  man  by 
the  side  of  a  deep  river,  where  poor  wayfaring 
people  wanted  to  get  across,  and  had  no  one  to 
help  them.    And  the  good  old  man  said    to  the 


68  6*7:    CHRISTOPHER.  serm.  vii. 

giant,  '  Here  is  a  place  where  you  can  be  of  some 
use  ;  and  if  you  do  not  know  how  to  pray,  you  will, 
at  any  rate,  know  how  to  work,  and  perhaps  God 
will  give  you  what  you  ask,  and  perhaps  also  you 
will  at  last  find  a  master  stronger  than  you.'  So 
the  giant  went  and  sat  by  the  river-side,  and  many 
a  time  he  carried  poor  wayfarers  across.  One 
night  he  heard  a  little  child  crying  to  be  carried 
over  ;  so  he  put  the  child  on  his  shoulder  and 
strode  across  the  stream.  Presently  the  wind  blew, 
the  rain  fell,  and  as  the  river  beat  against  his  knees 
he  felt  the  weight  of  the  little  child  almost  greater 
than  he  could  bear,  and  he  looked  up  with  his 
great,  patient  eyes  (there  is  a  beautiful  picture  in  a 
beautiful  palace  at  Venice,  where  we  see  him  with 
his  face  turned  upwards  as  he  tries  to  steady  him- 
self in  the  raging  waters),  and  he  saw  that  it  was 
a  child  glorious  and  shining  ;  and  the  child  said, 
'  Thou  art  labouring  under  this  heavy  burden 
because  thou  art  carrying  One  who  bears  the  sins 
of  all  the  world.'  And  then  as  the  story  goes 
on,  the  giant  felt  that  it  was  the  child  Jesus,  and 
when  he  reached  the  other  side  of  the  river  he  fell 
down  before  Him.  Now  he  had  found  some  one 
stronger  than  he  was,  some  one  so  good,  so  worthy 
of  loving,  as  to  be  a  master  whom  he  could  serve. 


SERM.  VII.  ST.    CHRISTOPHER.  69 

In  later  days  the  thought  of  the  giaat  Christopher 
(the  '  bearer  of  the  child  Christ ')  was  so  dear  to  men, 
that  his  picture  was  often  ])aintcd  very  large  on  the 
churches,  so  that  those  who  saw  it  far  off  should 
have  a  pleasant  and  holy  remembrance  through  the 
day  which  would  save  them  from  running  into  evil. 
But  we  all  may  learn  from  it  two  useful  lessons, 
which  may  keep  us  from  evil  and  lead  us  into  good. 
The  first  lesson  is  that  often,  when  we  know 
not  how  to  believe  or  how  to  pray,  we  at  any  rate 
may  know  how  to  work  for  the  good  of  others,  and 
then  God  accepts  this  as  if  it  were  a  prayer.  There 
is  an  old  Latin  saying,  Labo7-are  est  orare — or,  if  we 
were  to  turn  it  into  English,  we  should  say, — 

Good  working  and  good  playing 
Is  almost  like  good  praying. 

Or,  as  some  one  else  has  said, — 

He  prayeth  well  who  loveth  well 
Both  man  and  bird  and  beast. 

We  ought  all  of  us  to  say  our  prayers  ;  they  will 
help  us  to  do  what  is  good  :  but  we  must  also  all 
remember  that  our  prayers  are  no  use  unless  we 
strive,  both  in  our  work  and  in  our  play. 

To  live  more  nearly  as  we  pray. 


70  ST.    CHRISTOPHER.  serm.  vii. 

This  is  one  lesson  which  we  may  carry  with  us 
from  the  story  of  St.  Christopher,  and  one  which 
apphes  to  all,  whether  grown-up  people  or  children. 
Pray  and  work,  work  and  pray,  do  as  much  good  as 
you  can,  and  God  will  reward  and  receive  you  at  last. 

But  there  is  another  lesson  which  more  es- 
pecially applies  to  the  sight  of  a  congregation  of 
children  with  their  parents  and  friends.  The  child 
Jesus,  who,  according  to  the  story,  was  carried  on 
the  shoulders  of  the  giant,  was  the  type  and  like- 
ness of  all  children.  That  is  one  reason  why  we 
think  so  much  of  Christmas  ;  why  Christmas  is  so 
much  more  loved  than  even  Easter  or  Whitsun- 
tide. It  is  because  we  feel  that  the  birth  and  the 
childhood  of  our  Lord  contained  the  promise  of 
His  manhood,  because  we  have  our  hearts  drawn 
towards  the  tender,  innocent  child  who,  when  He 
grew  up,  suffered  so  much  and  endured  so  much 
for  the  good  of  mankind.  And  that  may  be  the 
case,  more  or  less,  with  all  children.  That  is  why 
our  Saviour  looked  upon  them  with  such  confid- 
ence, such  reverence,  and  such  affection.  'Of 
such,'  He  said,  'is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  Of 
such  and  out  of  such  characters  as  were  wrapped 
up  in  the  Httle  beings  which  He  saw  before  Him, 
and  which  we  now  see  before  us,  is  the  hope  of  the 


SERM.  VII.  ST.    CHRISTOPHER.  71 

coming  time.  You  who  are  the  parents,  you  who 
are  responsible  for  the  training  of  these  children, 
you  bear  upon  your  shoulders  a  burden  like  that 
which  the  giant  of  the  old  story  carried  ;  you  bear 
a  burden  greater,  perhaps,  than  you  know  how  to 
bear — the  burden  of  forming  their  characters  ;  the 
burden,  perchance,  of  the  destinies  of  the  coming 
age.  Rejoice  in  them,  and  while  remembering 
how  heavy  is  the  responsibility  which  presses  upon 
you,  be  encouraged  to  carry  your  little  burdens 
safely  over  the  great  river  of  life,  which  is  also  the 
great  river  of  death.  Remember  also  that  as  St. 
Christopher  in  the  old  story  was  saved  by  carrying 
the  Child,  so  we  may  be  saved  by  the  children 
carrying  us  ]  they  may  help  by  their  innocence  and 
truthfulness  to  teach  us  now  and  to  help  us  here- 
after ;  they  may  be  as  that  litde  child  which 
Elisha  cured,  who  it  was  supposed  afterwards  grew 
to  be  the  great  prophet  Jonah  ;  or  that  other  little 
child  in  the  Gospels  who,  as  the  early  Christians 
believed,  grew  to  be  the  great  Christian  martyr 
Ignatius. 

But  as  the  children  are  the  burden,  the  quiver 
on  our  shoulders,  so  they  are,  as  the  text  says, 
'like  as  the  arrows  in  the  hand  of  the  giant,'  like 
the  arrows  which  a  mighty  archer  shoots  into  the 


72  ST.    CHRISTOPHER.  serm.  vii. 

darkness,  piercing  hearts  which  are  far  away.  These 
children,  if  rightly  trained  and  rightly  nurtured, 
may  indeed  be  the  blessing  of  times  to  come  ;  nay, 
more,  they  may  be  blessings  even  while  they  are 
yet  children.  Let  me  give  you  one  simple  in- 
stance. It  is  a  story,  not  like  that  old  fairy  story 
with  which  I  began  this  sermon,  but  a  real  story  of 
our  own  time.  I  found  it  in  a  sermon^  by  a  power- 
ful preacher  in  one  of  the  strange  cities  of  North 
America,  but  describing  what  happened  in  our  own 
country  on  a  cold  winter  day  like  those  which 
we  have  just  had.  Listen  to  it,  parents ;  listen 
to  it,  dear  children,  for  if  you  have  understood 
nothing  else  of  what  I  have  said,  you  will  under- 
stand this.  Not  long  ago,  in  Edinburgh,  two 
gentlemen  were  standing  at  the  door  of  an  hotel 
one  very  cold  day,  when  a  little  boy  with  a  poor 
thin  blue  face,  his  feet  bare  and  red  with  the  cold, 
and  with  nothing  to  cover  him  but  a  bundle  of  rags, 
came  and  said,  'Please,  £ir,  buy  some  matches.' 
'No,  I  don't  want  any,'  the  gentleman  said.  'But 
they  are  only  a  penny  a  box,'  the  poor  little  fellow 

'  *  The  Life  that  now  is  : '  Sermons,  by  Robert  Collyer, 
of  Chicago,  pp.  260-64.  The  story  is  taken  from  this 
volume  ahnost  word  for  word,  and  I  have  incorporated 
some  of  the  preacher's  forcible  remarks. 


SERM.  vir.  6-7:    CHRISTOPHER.  y^ 

pleaded.  '  Yes,  but  you  see  we  don't  want  a  box,' 
the  gentleman  said  again.  'Then  I  will  gie  ye 
twa  boxes  for  a  penny,'  the  boy  said  at  last ;  '  and 
so  to  get  rid  of  him  '  (the  gentleman  who  tells  the 
story  says)  '  I  bought  a  box  ;  but  then  I  found  I 
'had  no  change,  so  I  said,  "  I  will  buy  a  box  to- 
morrow." "Oh,  do  buy  them  to-night,  if  you 
please,"  the  boy  pleaded  again  ;  "  I  will  run  and 
get  ye  the  change,  for  I  am  verra  hungry."  So  I 
gave  him  the  shilling,  and  he  started  away.  I 
waited  for  him,  but  no  boy  came.  Then  I  thought 
I  had  lost  my  shilling  ;  still  there  was  that  in  the 
boy's  face  I  trusted,  and  I  did  not  like  to  think  ill 
of  him.  Late  in  the  evening  I  was  told  that  a 
little  boy  wanted  to  see  me.  When  he  was  brought 
in  I  found  it  was  a  smaller  brother  of  the  boy  that 
got  my  shilling,  but  if  possible  still  more  ragged 
and  poor  and  thin.  He  stood  a  moment,  diving 
into  his  rags  as  if  he  was  seeking  something,  and 
then  said,  "Are  you  the  gentleman  that  bought 
the  matches  frae  Sandie  ?  "  "  Yes."  "  Weel,  then, 
here's  fourpence  out  o'  yer  shilling  ;  Sandie  cannot 
come  ;  he's  very  ill  ;  a  cart  ran  ower  him  and 
knocked  him  down,  and  he  lost  his  bonnet  and  his 
matches  and  your  sevenpence,  and  both  his  legs 
are   broken,   and   the   doctor  says  he'll  die ;  and 


74  ST.    CHRISTOPHER.  serm.  vii. 

that's  a'."  And  then,  putting  the  fourpence  on  the 
table,  the  poor  child  broke  down  into  great  sobs. 
So  I  fed  the  little  man,  and  I  went  with  him  to  see 
Sandie.  I  found  that  the  two  little  things  lived 
almost  alone,  their  father  and  mother  being  dead. 
Poor  Sandie  was  lying  on  a  bundle  of  shavings  :  he 
knew  me  as  soon  as  I  came  in,  and  said,  "  I  got  the 
change,  sir,  and  was  coming  back  ;  and  then  the 
horse  knocked  me  down,  and  both  my  legs  were 
broken ; — and  oh,  Reuby  !  little  Reuby  !  I  am 
sure  I  am  dying,  and  who  will  take  care  of  you 
when  I  am  gone  ?  What  will  ye  do,  Reuby  ? " 
Then  I  took  his  hand,  and  said  that  I  would 
always  take  care  of  Reuby.  He  understood  me, 
and  had  just  strength  to  look  up  at  me  as  if  to 
thank  me  :  the  light  went  out  of  his  blue  eyes  ;  in 
a  moment — 

He  lay  within  the  light  of  God, 

Like  a  babe  upon  the  breast, 
Where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling, 

And  the  weary  are  at  rest.' 

That  story  is  like  an  arrow  in  the  hand  of  a  giant. 
It  ought  to  pierce  many  a  heart,  old  and  young. 
Whenever,  dear  children,  you  are  tempted  to  say 
what  is  not  true,  or  to  be  hard  on  other  httle  boys 
and  girls,  or  to  take  what  you  ought  not  to  take, 


SERM.  VII.  ST.    CHRISTOPHER.  75 

we  want  you  to  remember  little  Sandie.  This  poor 
little  boy,  lying  on  a  bundle  of  shavings,  dying  and 
starving,  was  tender,  and  trusty,  and  true  ;  and  so 
God  told  the  gentleman  to  take  poor  little  friend- 
less Reuben,  and  be  a  friend  to  him,  and  Sandie 
heard  him  say  he  would  do  it — the  last  thing  he 
ever  did  hear  ;  and  then  the  dark  room,  the  bundle 
of  shavings,  the  weary,  broken  little  limbs,  all  faded 
away,  and  Sandie  was  among  the  angels,  who  could 
look  at  him  in  his  new  home,  and  say  one  to 
another,  '  That  is  the  little  boy  who  kept  his  word, 
and  sent  back  fourpence  ;  that  is  the  little  boy  who 
was  tender,  and  trusty,  and  true,  when  he  was 
hungry  and  faint,  and  when  both  his  legs  were 
broken,  and  he  lay  dying.'  This  story  is  told 
you  now  because,  whether  it  be  hard  or  easy,  we 
want  you  to  be  tender,  and  trusty,  and  true,  as 
poor  little  Sandie,  who  did  not  forget  his  promise, 
and  who  loved  his  httle  brother  to  the  end. 


VIII. 
THE   CHILDREN'S   CREED. 

(December  27,  1S79.) 

I  have  no  greater  joy  than  to  hear  that  my  children  walk  in 
truth. — 3  John  4. 

As  once  before,  so  now,  we  have  brought  you 
together  on  St.  John's  Day,  because  Innocents'  Day 
falls  on  a  Sunday.  Those  words  which  I  have 
read  from  St.  John  well  express  what  all  of  us 
ought  to  feel — '  We  have  no  greater  joy  than  that 
our  children,  than  that  the  rising  generation,  should 
walk  in  truth.'  And  I  have,  therefore,  thought  it 
useful  to  set  forth  what  are  the  religious  truths 
which  we  should  try  to  teach  our  children,  and 
which  our  children  should  try  to  learn.  Some  of 
what  I  say  will  be  chiefly  addressed  to  parents 
and  friends  ;  some  of  what  I  say  will  be  chiefly  ad- 
dressed to  children.     But  I  hope  that  most  will  find 


SERM.  VIII.     THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED.  77 

—some  in  one  part,  some  in  another— something 
to  instruct  them. 

There  are  two  points  to  be  mentioned  at  the 
outset  which  might  seem  difficult  to  reconcile,  but 
which  in  fact  wonderfully  agree,  and  are  a  support 
to  each  other.  On  the  one  hand,  what  we  teach 
to  children  should  be  truths  which  will  stand  the 
wear  and  tear  of  time  as  they  grow  up.  Solomon 
says,  '  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go  : 
and  when  he  is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it.' 
That  is  very  true,  but  in  order  that  he  should  not 
depart  from  it  w^hen  he  is  old,  it  must  be  a  way 
which,  when  he  is  old,  he  will  find  to  be  as  good 
for  him  as  it  was  when  he  was  young.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  must  try  to  teach  a  child  what  he 
will  understand,  in  the  simplest  and  not  in  the 
hardest  words,  in  the  words  \vhich  sink  deepest 
into  his  soul  and  lay  most  hold  on  his  heart.  This, 
perhaps  we  might  think,  cannot  be  the  truth  in 
which  the  child  will  feel  most  delight  when  it  grows 
older.  Not  perhaps  in  the  very  same  forms  ;  but 
we  may  be  sure,  and  our  Saviour  Himself  has  told 
us,  that  the  instruction  which  is  most  suitable  for 
a  little  child  is  also  the  most  suitable  for  the  oldest 
and  wisest  of  men. 

I.  What   then  shall  we  teach  our  children   to 


78  THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED,     serm.  viii. 

believe,  which  when  they  grow  up  they  may  find 
that  later  experience  does  not  require  them  to 
alter  ? 

(i)  We  must  teach  them  that,  beyond  what  they 
feel  and  see  and  touch,  there  is  something  better 
and  greater,  which  they  can  neither  feel  nor  see  nor 
touch.  Goodness,  kindness  to  one  another,  un- 
selfishness, fairness,  and  uprightness — these  are  the 
best  things  in  all  the  world.  It  is  true  that  good- 
ness and  kindness  have  no  faces  that  we  can  kiss — 
no  hands  that  we  can  clasp ;  but  they  are  certainly 
close  to  us,  both  in  the  midst  of  our  work  and  our 
play.  And  this  goodness  and  kindness  which,  ex- 
cept in  outward  acts,  we  cannot  see,  is  something 
which  existed  before  we  were  born.  It  is  from  this 
that  we  have  all  the  pleasant  things  of  this  world — 
the  flowers,  the  sunshine,  the  moonlight — all  these 
were  given  us  by  some  great  kindness  and  good- 
ness which  we  have  never  seen  at  all.  And  this 
Goodness  and  this  Love  are  the  Great  Power  out  of 
which  all  things  come,  which  we  call  by  the  name 
of  God.  And  because  God  is  so  much  above  us 
and  so  good  to  us,  we  call  Him  by  the  name  which 
is  most  dear  to  us  of  all  earthly  names — our  Father. 
When  a  father  goes  away  from  home,  still  his 
children  know  that  he  is  somewhere,  though  they 


SERM.  vin.     THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED.  79 


cannot  see  him,  and  they  know  what  to  do  in  order 
to  please  him.  So  it  is  with  the  great  unseen 
Father  of  us  all.  Let  us  then  teach  our  children 
that  God  is  Goodness  and  Justice  ;  that  the  rules 
which  He  has  laid  down  for  the  government  of  the 
world  are  His  will  and  wish  for  us ;  even  frost  and 
cold,  even  sickness  and  pain,  are  for  our  good,  and 
we  must  trust  that  he  has  some  good  reason  for  it, 
perhaps  to  make  us  strong,  and  brave,  and  healthy. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  you  see  in  the  Abbey,  on 
the  monument  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  who  was  so 
long  shut  up  in  the  ice,  the  words,  '  O  ye  Frost  and 
Cold  ;  O  ye  Ice  and  Snow;  bless  ye  the  Lord  ; 
praise  Him,  and  magnify  Him  for  ever.'  This, 
then,  in  various  ways,  is  our  way  of  expressing  our 
belief  in  our  Father  in  heaven. 

(2)  But  this  highest  kindness  and  fairness  are 
like  what  we  have  seen  and  heard  of  in  the  world. 
Children  can  see  it  in  their  good  parents,  their 
good  uncles  and  aunts,  their  good  brothers  and 
sisters  ;  and  as  they  grow  older  they  will  find  that 
there  have  always  been  good  people,  and  they  will 
hear  that  there  was  once  one  Child,  one  Man,  so  good 
to  all  about  Him,  so  good  to  little  children,  that 
He  has  shown  us  better  than  any  one  else  what  is 
the  true  likeness  of  that  unseen  Goodness  which 


8o  THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED,     serm.  viii. 

we  call  God,  and  which  we  still  hope  to  know  in 
heaven.  Children  should  be  taught  what  Jesus 
Christ  did  and  said  when  He  went  about  doing 
good,  and  should  be  made  to  understand  that  only 
so  far  as  we  are  like  to  Jesus  Christ,  or  like  what 
Jesus  Christ  loved  when  He  was  in  the  world, 
can  we  be  His  friends  or  followers.  He  was  good, 
and  He  went  through  all  sorts  of  trouble  and  pain, 
even  to  His  death  on  the  cross,  for  no  other  reason 
but  to  make  us  good.  This  will  help  us  to  under- 
stand why  He  is  called  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour 
of  men. 

(3)  And  children  should  learn  to  know  that 
there  is  in  the  heart  of  every  one  of  us  something 
which  tells  when  we  have  done  right  or  wrong, 
which  makes  the  colour  come  into  our  cheeks  when 
we  have  said  what  is  not  true,  something  which  we 
must  treat  with  honour  and  respect  both  in  ourselves 
and  others.  What  is  this  ?  There  are  many  names 
by  which  you  will  hear  it  called  in  after  life,  but  there 
is  one  name  which  we  speak  of  almost  in  a  whisper, 
because  we  do  not  like  to  think  or  speak  of  it  as  if 
it  were  a  common  thing.  We  call  it  '  the  voice  of 
God,'  the  invisible  Power  all  around,  which  also  is 
within  us— the  'Breath'  or  the  'Spirit  of  God,' 
which  we  cannot  see  any  more  than  we  can  see  our 


SERM.  VIII.     THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED.  Si 

own  breath  or  spirit — and  because  it  is  so  good  we 
call  it  '  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.'  And  from  this 
'  Breath  or  Spirit  of  God '  comes  all  the  good  not 
only  in  ourselves  but  in  other  people  ;  and  children 
cannot  learn  too  early  to  admire  and  love  all  that 
is  admirable  and  lovable  in  the  men,  w^omen,  and 
children  that  they  see  around  them.  They  may, 
perhaps,  also  be  able  to  learn  the  great  lesson  that 
there  are  things  to  be  admired  and  loved  in  people 
they  do  not  like,  in  people  that  hurt  and  annoy 
them,  or  even  in  those  whom  they  ought  to  avoid. 
And  if,  as  sometimes  happens,  children  are  brought 
up  in  other  countries  where  they  see  that  people 
do  not  always  go  to  the  same  church,  or  utter  the 
same  prayers  as  they  and  their  parents,  they  may 
learn  thus  early  a  lesson  which  they  never  will 
forget — namely,  that  our  heavenly  Father  has  those 
who  serve  Him  and  do  good  in  many  different 
ways,  but  still  in  and  by  the  same  Good  Spirit. 

II.  These  are  the  chief  things  which  we  ought 
to  learn  from  our  catechism  as  to  what  the  young 
should  believe.  And  now,  what  must  we  teach 
them  as  to  what  they  should  dol  St.  John,  when 
he  was  a  very  old  man,  so  old  that  he  could  not 
walk,  and  could  hardly  speak,  used  to  be  carried 
in  the  arms  of  his  friends  into  the  midst  of  the 

G 


82  THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED,     serm.  viil. 

assembly  of  Christians,  and  then  he  would  lift  him- 
self up  and  say,  '  Little  children,  love  one  another ;  * 
and  again,  '  Little  children,  love  one  another ; '  and 
again,  'Little  children,  love  one  another.'  When 
asked,  'Have  you  nothing  else  to  tell  us?'  he 
replied,  '  I  say  this  over  and  over  again,  because  if 
you  do  this  there  is  nothing  more  needed.'  Now, 
that  is  something  like  what  I  would  say  to  you. 
What  you  have  to  be  told  to  do  is  very  simple.  It 
is  that  you  should  be  kind  and  loving  to  one 
another,  for  then  you  will  be  loving  towards  God, 
because  you  will  be  doing  that  which  He  most 
desires.  Try  not  to  vex  or  tease  your  smaller 
brothers  or  sisters  ;  try  to  help  them  when  they  are 
in  difficulty;  do  not  be  jealous  of  them;  do  not 
tell  stories  against  them ;  above  all,  do  not  lead 
them  into  mischief,  because  the  worst  harm  you 
can  do  to  a  young  child  is  to  tempt  him  to  do  what 
is  wrong.  If  he  once  begins  you  cannot  stop  him, 
and  many  years  afterwards  he  will  remember  with 
bitter  grief  and  indignation  that  you  were  the  first 
fo  lead  him  astray  into  evil  ways.  A  lie  that  is 
told,  a  deceit  that  is  practised,  a  bad  word  that  is 
heard,  a  bad  act  that  is  lightly  spoken  of,  often 
enters  into  the  mind  of  a  young  child,  and  remains 
there  all  his  life.     There  is  a  proverb  which  says, 


SERM.  VIII.     THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED.  83 


'  Little  pitchers  have  long  ears ; '  and  it  means  that 
little  children  often  hear  more  than  you  think  they 
hear,  and  keep  in  their  memory  things  which  you 
think  they  must  have  forgotten.  It  is  the  same,  in 
other  words,  as  a  Latin  proverb,  which  those  boys 
who  understand  Latin  will  translate  for  themselves 
— maxima  debettir  pueris  revereiitia.  The  greatest 
reverence,  the  greatest  fear  should  restrain  us  from 
doing  anything  by  false,  or  vulgar,  or  foolish  words 
to  spoil  the  conscience,  or  the  taste,  or  the  charac- 
ter of  a  little  boy.  You  know  what  you  mean  by  a 
spoiled  picture,  or  a  spoiled  book  ;  the  colours  are 
blurred,  the  leaves  are  rumpled.  That  is  what 
we  mean  by  a  child  whose  character  is  spoiled  or 
stained  by  the  foolish  indulgence  or  neglect  of  those 
about  him.  Parents,  try  not  to  spoil  your  children. 
Children,  try  not  to  spoil  one  another ;  and  take 
care  not  to  be  spoiled  yourselves.  That  is  one 
of  the  most  important  ways  of  fulfilling  St.  John's 
precept  both  for  old  and  young,  '  Little  children, 
love — do  not  spoil — one  another.'  And  there  is 
another  part  of  this  precept  which  children  should 
be  taught  :  it  is  that  love  and  kindness  include  not 
only  our  brothers  and  sisters  and  relatives,  but  also 
poor  people  who  are  in  suffering  or  want ;  and  not 
only  these,  but  also  the  poor  dumb  creatures  that 


84  THE  CHILDREN'S  CREED,     serm.  viii. 

depend  upon  us.  Never  be  rude  to  any  poor  man 
or  woman  because  they  are  in  rags,  or  because  they 
look  and  talk  differently  from  ourselves.  Never  be 
cruel  to  any  dog,  or  cat,  or  bird.  There  was  once  a 
very  cruel  Roman  emperor — cruel  to  men,  women, 
and  children — who,  when  he  was  a  little  boy,  used 
to  amuse  himself  by  tormenting  flies.  Perhaps  if 
he  had  been  stopped  then  he  would  not  have  had 
his  heart  hardened  against  his  fellow-men. 

III.  And  now  how  are  you  to  be  strength- 
ened to  believe  and  to  do  these  things?  There 
are  many  ways,  but  I  will  mention  only  two.  By 
reading  good  books  and  by  learning  good  prayers. 

(i)  Good  books.  First  of  all,  the  best  parts 
of  the  Bible  ;  for  even  in  the  best  of  all  books, 
the  Bible,  there  are  some  parts  more  useful,  more 
easy,  more  likely  to  stand  the  trials  of  time  than 
others.  Learn  these,  teach  these,  and  you  will 
then  find  that  the  more  difficult  parts  will  not  per- 
plex those  who  in  their  early  childhood  have  had 
a  firm  grasp  of  those  parts  of  which  the  truth  and 
beauty  belong  not  to  the  vesture  that  is  folded  up 
and  vanisheth  away,  but  to  the  wisdom  and  grace 
which  endure  for  ever.  And  of  other  good  books, 
let  the  stories  of  the  good  and  great  men  of  our 
own  or  former  times  be  fixed  in  our  remembrance. 


SERM.  VIII.     THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED.  85 

How  many  such  stories  there  are,  which,  as  Sir 
Phihp  Sydney  said  of  Chevy  Chase,  stir  our  souls 
and  spirits  as  with  a  trumpet  !  How  many  are 
there  which  will  make  our  blood  boil  against  the 
evil-doer,  or  our  hearts  beat  with  admiration  for 
generous  and  noble  deeds  !  There  was  a  famous 
French  soldier  of  bygone  days  whose  name  you  will 
see  written  in  this  Abbey  on  the  gravestone  of  Sir 
James  Outram,  because  in  many  ways  he  was  like 
Bayard.  Bayard  was  a  small  boy,  only  thirteen, 
when  he  went  into  his  first  service,  and  his  mother 
told  him  to  remember  three  things  :  '  first,  to  fear 
and  love  God  ;  secondly,  to  have  gentle  and 
courteous  manners  to  those  above  him ;  and 
thirdly,  to  be  generous  and  charitable,  without 
pride  or  haughtiness,  to  those  beneath  him  : '  and 
these  three  things  he  never  forgot,  which  helped  to 
make  him  the  soldier  '  without  fear  and  without 
reproach.'  These  are  the  stories  which  are  part  of 
the  heritage  of  all  the  families  of  the  earth,  and 
ought  to  be  cherished  from  the  first  to  the  last. 

(2)  And  what  must  we  teach,  what  must  be 
learnt  about  prayer  ?  Let  no  parent  forget,  let  no 
child  forget,  to  say  a  prayer,  however  short,  at 
morning  and  at  evening.  It  will  help  to  make  you 
better  all  the  day.   The  Lord's  Prayer  will  never  fail 


86  THE   CHILDREN'S  CREED,    serm.  viii. 


you.  The  child  will  be  able  to  understand  it,  the 
old  man  will  find  it  expressing  all  that  he  wants. 
And  there  is  also  that  form  of  prayer  which  is 
expressed  in  hymns.  There  are  hymns  which  can 
be  remembered  better  than  anything  else,  and 
which  in  restless,  sleepless  nights  of  pain  and 
suffering  will  come  back  to  our  minds,  many,  many 
years  after  they  were  learnt  in  childhood.  Amongst 
these  let  me  recommend  the  Morning  and  Evening 
Hymns,  written  by  one  of  the  best  of  Englishmen, 
Bishop  Ken— the  first  beginning,  'Awake,  my  soul, 
and  with  the  sun  ;'  and  the  other,  'Glory  to  Thee, 
my  God,  this  night.'  Not  long  ago  I  was  visiting 
an  aged  and  famous  statesman,^  and  he  repeated 
to  me,  word  by  word,  the  Evening  Hymn,  as  he 
had  learnt  it,  he  told  me,  from  his  nurse  ninety 
years  before.  So  may  it  be  with  you,  my  dear 
children,  not  only  with  hymns,  but  with  the  other 
good  things  which  you  may  learn  now,  and  perhaps 
when  you  are  like  that  old,  very  old  man,  grown 
gray  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  full  of  years 
and  honours,  you  may  remember  that  w^hen  you 
were  children  you  heard  something  which  you  have 
not  forgotten  on  the  festival  of  St.  John,  on  the 
eve  of  Innocents'  Day,  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
'  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe. 


IX. 

TALITHA  CUMI. 

(December  28,  1880.) 

Let  me  take  this  evening  the  story  of  our  Saviour's 
kindness  to  a  little  girl.  There  was  in  Capernaum 
a  well-known  house  where  lived  one  of  the  chief 
officers  of  the  synagogue.  His  name  was  Jairus. 
In  that  house  was  one  only  child,  a  little  daughter 
of  twelve  years  old,  just  at  the  age  when  a  child 
has  had  time  to  endear  itself  to  its  parents,  when 
its  character  first  comes  to  be  seen  and  known. 
The  child  was  thought  to  be  dying.  The  father 
heard  that  the  Great  Healer  had  just  crossed  the 
lake.  He  was  feasting  in  the  house  of  Levi,  the 
publican.  The  father  rushes  in ;  he  falls  at  LI  is  feet ; 
—  he  entreats  Him  to  come  and  save  his  daughter. 
The  Lord  arose  ;  that  little  life  was  as  precious 
in  His  sight  as  the  souls  of  those  whom  He  was 
convincing  by  His  divine  wisdom.     He  who  said, 


88  TALITHA    CUMI.  serm.  ix. 

'  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  Me,'  was 
as  eager,  if  one  may  so  say,  to  soothe  the  sick 
bed  of  this  small  Galilean  maiden  as  though  He 
had  nothing  else  to  do.  For  Him  the  thought  of 
human  sickness,  the  call  of  a  suffering  parent,  was 
the  most  sacred  of  human  duties.  He  came  at 
once.  All  along  the  shore  and  all  through  the 
streets  He  had  to  force  his  way  through  the  dense 
crowd,  thronging  ever  more  and  more  closely 
round  Him.  Whilst  He  thus  struggled  with  the 
crowd,  a  messenger  broke  through  the  press  with 
the  sad  tidings  that  it  was  too  late.  '  Thy  daughter 
is  dead.'  Amidst  the  surging  of  the  crowd,  and 
above  the  hum  of  many  voices,  the  Master's  wakeful 
ear  heard  the  whisper  of  the  messenger.  He  bade  the 
father  still  keep  up  his  heart.  '  Fear  not,'  He  said, 
'only  believe.'  'Fear  not,'  He  says  to  all  anxious 
mourners.  '  Fear  not  the  dark  and  dreary  void  into 
which  thy  loved  one  has  passed.  Fear  not  that 
God  will  desert  thee  in  thine  hour  of  need.  Fear 
not  but  that  thou  wilt  once  more  see  the  child,  the 
parent,  the  brother,  the  sister  thou  hast  lost.  Only 
believe  in  the  lovingkindness  of  God  our  Saviour. 
Only  believe  that  He  who  makes  the  flowers  to 
spring  and  the  buds  to  come  forth  again,  will  raise 
that  little  flower,  will  help  that  bursting  blossom  of 


SERM.  IX.  TALI77IA    CUMI.  89 

the  human  soul'  He  reaches  the  house.  The  hired 
mourners  of  Eastern  countries  are  already  there, 
waihng  and  shrieking,  as  is  their  wont.  He  put 
them  all  aside.  He  said  to  the  parents,  'She  is  not 
dead,  but  sleepeth ' ;  words  that  have  often  brought 
comfort  to  parents  hanging  over  the  face  of  their 
dead  child  in  the  hope  of  the  general  resurrection  ; 
words  that  are  written  in  this  church,  on  the  pede- 
stal of  one  of  the  children  of  the  great  family  of 
Russell,  who  died  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
He  touched  the  hand  of  the  child,  as  she  lay  on 
her  couch  as  if  in  the  sleep  of  death.  He  addressed 
her  in  words  which  have  been  handed  down  liter- 
ally. It  is  doubtful,  in  His  discourses  generally, 
what  language  our  Saviour  spoke — whether  Greek 
or  Syriac  ;  but  here,  at  any  rate,  the  Syriac  words 
are  given.  They  are,  'Talitha  cumi ' ,  that  is,  '  My 
litde  lamb,  my  little  pet  lamb,  rise  up.'  With  these 
endearing  appellations  He  roused  the  sleeping  soul. 
By  these  He  showed  to  the  parents  that  He  was  one 
with  them  in  their  parental  love,  in  their  domestic 
joy  as  well  as  in  their  domestic  sorrow.  And  she 
came  again  to  life,  and  was  to  them  as  before. 

Now  let  me  ■  apply  this  both  to  parents  and 
children.  Parents,  remember  what  a  gift,  what 
aa  inestimable  gift,  is  given  to  you  in  the  soul 


90  TALITHA    CUML  serm.  ix. 

of  a  little  child  ;  how  its  playful  ways  are  to  you 
the  special  gift  of  God.  Think  what  a  sight  it  is 
to  see  an  innocent  little  girl  ;  reflect  how  to  any 
cne  except  the  most  brutal  of  mankind  such  a 
sight  banishes  all  thoughts  of  filthy  language  or 
foul  deeds;  remember  that  the  tenderness  and 
gentleness  which  the  sight  of  such  a  little  girl 
awakens  is  one  of  the  best  parts  of  your  nature. 
If  any  of  you  doubt  whether  it  is  in  you  to  be  self- 
controlled  and  masters  of  yourselves,  remember 
that,  unless  you  are  very  bad  indeed,  you  must 
be  so  in  the  presence  of  such  a  litde  being.  Sir 
William  Napier  describes,  in  his  'History  of  the 
Peninsular  War,'  how  affecting  it  was  to  see,  at  the 
battle  of  Busaco,  in  Portugal,  a  beautiful  Portuguese 
orphan  girl  coming  down  the  mountains,  driving  an 
ass  loaded  with  all  her  property  through  the  midst 
of  the  armies.  She  passed  over  the  field  of  battle 
with  a  childish  simplicity,  scarcely  understanding 
which  were  French  and  which  were  English,  and 
no  one  on  either  side  was  so  hard-hearted  as  to 
touch  her.  And  let  me  give  two  stories  which  show 
how  the  strongest  men  are  open  to  those  tender 
kindly  feelings  which  little  children  are  given  by 
our  heavenly  Father  to  promote  in  all  of  us.  That 
same  Sir  William  Napier  once  in  his  walks  met 


SERM.  IX.  TALITHA    CUMI.  91 


with  a  little  girl  of  five  years  old  sobbing  over  a 
pitcher  she  had  broken.  She  in  her  innocence 
asked  him  to  mend  it.  He  told  her  that  he  could 
not  mend  it,  but  that  he  would  meet  her  trouble 
by  giving  her  sixpence  to  buy  a  new  one,  if  she 
would  meet  him  there  at  the  same  hour  the  next 
evening,  as  he  had  no  money  in  his  purse  that  day. 
When  he  returned  home  he  found  that  there  was 
an  invitation  waiting  for  him,  which  he  particularly 
wished  to  accept.  But  he  could  not  then  have  met 
the  little  girl  at  the  time  stated,  and  he  gave  up  the 
invitation,  raying,  '  I  could  not  disappoint  her,  she 
trusted  in  me  so  implicitly.'  That  was  the  true 
Christian  gentleman  and  soldier.  Another  exam- 
ple is  that  of  Martin  Luther,  one  of  the  fiercest 
and  most  courageous  men  that  ever  lived.  But 
when  he  thought  of  his  little  children,  especially  of 
hi^  little  daughter,  he  was  as  gentle  and  kind  as 
any  woman.  His  daughter  Magdalen  died  when 
she  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  it  is  most  affecting 
to  read  his  grief,  and,  at  the  same  time,  his  resigna- 
tion. '  Magdalen,  my  little  daughter,  thou  wouldst 
gladly  stay  with  thj  father  here,  and  thou  wouldst 
also  gladly  go  to  thy  Father  yonder.'  '  Ah  !  thou 
dear  little  thing,  thou  shalt  rise  again,  and  shine 
like  a  star  ;   yea,  like   the   sun.'     '  Her   face,  her 


92  TALITHA   CUML  serm.  ix. 

words,  cleave  to  our  heart,  remain  fixed  in  its  depths, 
living  and  dying — the  words  and  looks  of  that  most 
dutiful  child.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  called,  chose,  and  magnified  her.  I  would  for 
myself,  and  all  of  us,  that  we  might  attain  to  such 
a  death  ;  yea,  rather,  to  such  a  life.' 

And  you,  children,  these  words  are  also  ad- 
dressed to  you.  '  My  little  lamb,'  the  very  word 
tells  to  you  how  precious  you  are  to  the  Good 
Shepherd.  Arise,  get  up,  bestir  yourself!  get  up 
from  any  slothful  habit,  from  any  idle,  selfish  habit 
you  have  formed.  Let  His  voice  reach  your  inner- 
most heart,  and  raise  you  from  the  deepest  sleep. 

There  was  a  boy  who  used  to  carry  parcels 
from  a  bookseller  to  his  customers.  He  went 
every  day  trudging  through  the  streets  with  a  heavy 
parcel  of  books  under  his  arm,  and  one  day  he 
was  sent  to  the  house  of  a  great  duke  with  three 
folio  volumes  of  Clarendon's  '  History  of  England.' 
The  parcel  was  so  heavy,  his  shoulders  were  so 
tired,  that  as  he  passed  through  Broad  Sanctuary, 
opposite  Westminster  Abbey,  he  laid  down  the  load, 
and  sobbed  at  the  thought  that  there  was  nothing 
higher  in  life  for  him  to  look  forward  to  than  being 
a  bookseller's  porter.  Suddenly  he  looked  up  at 
the  great  building  which  towered  above  him.     He 


SERM.  IX.  TALITHA    CUMT.  93 

thought  of  the  high  thoughts  and  the  great  men 
enshrined  within  it.  He  brushed  away  his  tears, 
replaced  the  load  on  his  shoulder,  and  walked 
on  with  a  light  heart,  determined  to  bide  his  time. 
And  his  time  came  at  last.  He  became  one  of  the 
best  and  most  learned  of  our  Indian  missionaries.* 
There  was  a  little  girl  living  with  her  old  grand- 
father. She  w^as  a  good  child,  but  he  was  not  a 
very  good  man,  and  one  day  when  the  little  child 
came  back  from  school  he  put  in  writing  over  her 
bed,  '  God  is  noivhere ' ;  for  he  did  not  believe  in 
the  good  God,  and  he  was  trying  to  make  the  little 
child  believe  the  same.  What  did  the  little  girl 
do?  She  had  no  eyes  to  see,  no  ears  to  hear,  what 
her  grandfather  tried  to  teach  her.  She  was  very 
small ;  she  could  only  read  w^ords  of  one  syllable 
at  the  time ;  she  rose  above  the  bad  meaning 
which  he  tried  to  put  into  her  mind;  she  rose  as 
we  ought  all  to  rise,  above  the  temptation  of  our 
time  ;  she  rose  into  a  higher  and  better  world  ; 
she  rose  because  her  little  mind  could  not  do 
otherwise,  and  she  read  the  words,  not  '  God  is 
nowhere,'  but  '  God  is  noiv  here.^  That  is  what  we 
all  should  strive  to  do.  Out  of  words  w^hich  have 
no  sense,  or  v/hich  have  a  bad  sense,  our  eyes,  our 
'  Dr.  Joshua  Marshman. 


94  TALITHA   CUMI.  serm.  ix. 

minds,  ought  to  be  able  to  read  a  good  sense.  The 
old  grandfather  was  touched  and  made  serious,  and 
we  ought  all  of  us  to  be  made  serious  in  like 
manner  by  the  innocent  questions  and  answers  of 
our  little  children.  God  is  noiv  here.  God  is  now, 
at  this  moment,  watching  over  them  and  us.  God 
is  here,  in  this  very  Abbey,  watching  over  the  little 
children  here  assembled.  God  is  in  your  homes,  in 
your  play,  in  your  prayers,  listening  to  you,  as  He  is 
in  this  church,  and  He  says  to  each  one  of  you,  to 
each  one  of  us, '  Talitha  cumi  '—My  little  lamb,  rise, 
mount  up,  be  better  this  year  than  you  were  last 
year.  Mount  up,  become  better  and  wiser  ;  mount 
up,  rise  up,  as  if  you  were  climbing  a  long  ladder ; 
mount  up,  rise  up,  as  if  you  were  climbing  a  high 
mountain,  and  then  you  will  be  able  to  read  those 
words,  '  God  is  nowhere^'  in  their  truest  sense. 
They  mean  that  God  is  in  no  particular  place. 
That  is  true  ;  but  it  is  not  the  whole  truth — it  is 
only  half  the  truth,  or,  rather,  it  is,  when  taken 
by  itself,  the  reverse  of  the  truth.  But  when  we 
make  it  '  God  is  noiv  here^  it  becomes  a  great  truth, 
for  it  tells  us  that  because  God  is  in  no  particular 
place,  therefore  He  is  in  all  places.  God  is  now 
here,  for  God  is  always  everywhere — your  help  in 
ages  past,  your  hope  for  years  to  come. 


X. 

THE  BEATITUDES. 

(Saturday  Afternoon,  June  i8,  1881.) 

And  seeing  the  imdtitudes^  He  went  tip  into  a  mountain  : 
and  when  He  zvas  set,  His  disciples  came  unto  Him. 

Matt.  v.  i. 

It  has  been  my  wish,  for  some  time  since,  to  invite 
those  who  may  be  disengaged  at  this  time  of  the 
year,  and  at  this  time  of  the  day,  to  hear  a  few 
words  which  may  perchance  be  useful  to  them  on 
some  of  the  serious  matters  connected  with  reli- 
gion. The  season  of  the  Christian  year  which  we 
are  now  entering  upon  is  not  marked  by  any  solemn- 
ity which  conspicuously  attracts  us  :  Christmas  is 
over.  Lent  is  over,  Easter  is  over,  Whitsuntide  and 
Trinity  Sunday  are  over,  and  there  is  nothing  to 
break  the  long  and  even  tenor  which  continues 
onwards  towards  Advent.  The  absence  of  any 
such  particular  solemnity  appears  to  leave  a  vacant 


96  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  x. 

space  in  which  we  may  possibly  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  calling  attention  to  those  truths  through 
which  alone  all  other  facts  and  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  reHgion  are  important. 

I  propose  to  speak  of  the  Beatitudes  pronounced 
by  our  Saviour  on  the  characters  in  which  He  most 
delighted.     They  are  all-important  in  several  ways. 

First,  they  open  that  discourse  which,  whatever 
may  be  the  difficulties  of  particular  parts  of  it,  has 
always  been  recognised  as  the  most  important 
part  of  the  New  Testament.  Nothing  else  in 
the  Gospels,  nothing  in  St.  PauFs  Epistles,  can 
compare  with  the  interest  which  attaches  to  the 
words  derived  from  our  Saviour's  lips  on  this  occa- 
sion. It  is,  as  it  has  been  well  called,  the  Magna 
Charta  of  Christianity.  These  Beatitudes  corre- 
spond in  the  Christian  religion  to  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments deUvered  on  Mount  Sinai ;  they  were 
mtended  by  some  good  reformers  of  our  Church 
Service  to  take  the  place  of  those  Ten  Command- 
ments on  the  three  great  festivals  of  the  Christian 
Church  which  are  now  past.  They  are  not  ques- 
tioned, at  least  in  their  essential  parts,  by  any  of 
those  various  inquiries  which  have  thrown  some  diffi- 
culty in  the  way  of  accepting  this  or  that  saying 
of  our  Saviour,  this  or  that  writing  of  His  apostles. 


SERM.  XI  THE  BEAT7TUDES.  97 


Secondly,  they  put  before  us  ^vhat  are  those 
qualities,  and  what  are  those  results,  which  the 
Founder  of  our  religion  regarded  as  alone  of  supreme 
excellence.  He  does  not  say,  'Blessed  are  the 
Churchmen,'  or  'Blessed  are  the  Nonconformists'; 
He  does  not  say,  '  Blessed  are  the  Presbyterians,' 
or  '  Blessed  are  the  Episcopalians '  j  He  does  not 
say,  '  Blessed  are  the  Methodists,'  or  '  Blessed  are 
the  Baptists ' ;  He  does  not  say,  '  Blessed  are  the 
Roman  Catholics,'  or  'Blessed  are  the  Protestants': 
but  He  says,  '  Blessed  are  they  who  show  those 
graces  and  virtues  in  their  characters  which  may 
be  found  in  every  one  of  these  communities,  and 
under  every  one  X)f  these  forms  of  behef.' 

In  proportion  as  we  show  any  of  these  in  our 
lives,  we  do  what  our  Master  tells  us ;  in  propor- 
tion as  we  do  not  show  them,  we  fail  in  the 
purpose  for  which  He  lived  and  died  for  man. 
Often  in  revivals,  and  in  confessions  on  death-beds, 
people  ask,  'xA.re  you  happy?'  'Are  you  saved?' 
Christ  gives  us  the  answer :  '  You  are  happy,  you 
are  saved,  if  you  seek  the  happiness,  first,  or 
modesty  ;  secondly,  of  compassion  for  sorrow ; 
thirdly,  of  gentleness  ;  fourthly,  of  an  eager  desire 
for  justice  ;  fifthly,  of  purity  and  singleness  of 
purpose ;   sixthly,  of  kindness  to  man  and  beast ; 

H 


98  THE  BEATITUDES.  ser.m.  x. 

seventhly,  of  pacific  and  conciliatory  courses  ; 
eighthly,  of  perseverance  in  sjrlte  of  difficulty/ 

Again,  the  form  of  the  '  Beatitudes,'  as  they  are 
called  —  or,  in  other  words,  the  declaration  of  the 
happiness  of  those  who  fulfil  these  things  in  their 
own  lives — is  perhaps  the  best  way  of  leading  us  to 
practise  those  things.  He  does  not  say,  'Be  merci- 
ful,' or  '  Be  pure  in  heart ' ;  but  He  says,  '  Happy 
are  the  merciful,  happy  are  the  pure  in  heart '  : 
that  is  to  say.  He  points  out  that  the  happiness  of 
which  we  all  of  us,  rich  and  poor,  are  in  search, 
can  be  found  in  one  or  other  of  these  Divine 
qualities. 

In  this  respect  the  same  course  was  laid  down 
by  a  great  teacher  of  religion  who  existed  among 
the  heathen  in  the  world  of  former  times, ^  in  words 
which  it  may  perhaps  be  well  for  me  to  read  to 
you,  both  because  they  are  instructive  in  them- 
selves, and  also  because  they  show  the  same  deep 
feeling  of  desire  that  man  should  be  happy  and 
not  miserable,  which  lay  at  the  bottom  of  our 
Saviour's  heart. 

A  disciple  of  that  great  teacher  of  whom  I 
speak  came  to  him  and  said,  'Many  angels  and 
men  have  held  various  things  to  be  blessings  when 
»  Buddha. 


SERM.  X.  THE  BEATITUDES.  99 


they  were  yearning  for  happiness:  do  thou  declare  to 
us  the  chief  blessing.'  This  great  teacher  answered 
and  said,  'Not  to  serve  the  foolish,  but  to  serve  the 
wise,  to  honour  the  worthy  of  honour— this  is  the 
greatest  blessing.  To  dwell  in  the  pleasant  land, 
to  have  former  good  works  to  look  back  upon, 
and  right  desires  in  the  heart— this  is  the  greatest 
blessing.  Much  insight  and  instruction,  self-con- 
trol and  pleasant  speech,  and  whatever  word  be 
well  spoken — this  is  the  greatest  blessing.  To  sup- 
port father  and  mother,  to  cherish  wife  and  child, 
to  follow  a  peaceful  calling — this  is  the  gieatest 
blessing.  To  bestow  arms  and  live  righteously  ;  to 
give  help  to  kindred,  to  do  deeds  which  cannot 
be  blamed— these  are  the  greatest  blessings.  To 
abhor  and  cease  from  sin,  to  abstain  from  strong 
drink,  not  to  be  weary  in  well-doing — these  are  the 
greatest  blessings.  Reverence  and  lowliness,  con- 
tentment and  gratitude,  the  hearing  of  the  law  at 
due  seasons  — these  are  the  greatest  blessings.  To 
be  longsuffering  and  meek,  to  associate  with  those 
who  are  quiet,  and  have  religious  talk  at  due 
seasons — these  are  the  greatest  blessings.  Self- 
restraint  and  purity,  the  knowledge  of  noble  truths, 
the  knowledge  of  the  value  of  rest — this  is  the 
greatest  blessing.     On  every  side  all  are  invincible 

H  2 


lOo  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  x. 

who  do  acts  like  these  ;  on  every  side  they  walk  in 
safety,  and  theirs  is  the  greatest  blessing.' 

I  have  read  these  words  to  you,  not  in  order 
that  they  may  take  the  place  of  our  Saviour's 
teaching  in  the  eight  Beatitudes,  far  from  it  ;  but 
in  order  that  you  may  see  how,  in  this  method  of 
instruction,  the  great  lights  our  God  has  sent  into 
the  world  speak,  on  the  whole,  in  the  same  voice. 
These  are  the  Beatitudes  of  millions  of  our  fellow- 
creatures  in  India.  The  Beatitudes  of  Jesus  Christ 
are  far  simpler  and  nobler,  but  they  both  spring 
from  the  same  spirit. 

Fourthly,  I  have  taken  this  subject  of  the  states 
of  mind  v/hich  our  Saviour  calls  '  blessed '  because 
they  furnish  to  us  the  great  goal  or  end  which 
will  solve  many  difficulties  in  the  great  battle  of 
life  which  we  all  have  before  us.  This  day  is  the 
anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo — the  greatest 
battle  of  modern  times.  It  involved  the  ques- 
tion, Who  should  be  master  of  tlie  world  ?  You 
know  the  object  which  sustained  our  soldiers  in 
that  great  conflict.  It  was  for  the  officers  and 
generals  the  hope  of  vanquishing  the  great  enemy 
of  England  ;  it  was  for  all  the  soldiers  the  great 
object  of  fulfilling  their  duty  to  their  country,  and 
of  obtaining   that   honour  which   is   the  soldier's 


THE  BEATITUDES.  loi 


great  reward.  These  are  noble  motives,  and  they, 
no  doubt,  serve  to  nerve  the  heart  and  will  against 
hardships  and  sufferings  and  death.  We  need  not 
disparage  such  motives  ;  but  we  are  not  all  soldiers, 
and  there  are  honours  even  greater  than  the  reward 
of  a  grateful  country.  Those  qualities  of  which 
our  Saviour  spoke  are  within  the  reach  of  all  of  us, 
and  they  amply  serve  to  sustain  us  in  all  the  con- 
flicts of  poverty  and  distress  with  which  many  of 
us  are  encompassed.  There  are,  no  doubt,  many 
lesser  kinds  of  happiness  and  virtue.  There  are, 
no  doubt,  many  successes  m  life  which  attend  on 
the  swaggerers,  the  self-asserting,  the  common- 
place, the  listeners  and  retailers  of  gossip,  the 
people  w^ho  turn  about  with  any  evil  wind  that 
blows.  But  there  is  something  beyond.  In  moun- 
tain countries  there  is,  over  and  above  all  the  lower 
hills,  one  range,  one  line  of  lofty  summits  which 
conveys  a  new  sense  of  something  quite  different  ; 
and  that  is  the  range  of  eternal  snow.  High  above 
all  the  rest  we  see  the  white  peaks  standing  out  in 
the  blue  sky,  catching  the  first  rays  of  the  rising 
sun,  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  as  it  departs.  They 
are  not  the  rounded  hills  which  can  be  climbed  by 
every  one.  They  are  not  a  range  of  extinct  vol- 
canoes, from  which  all  Are  has  departed  ;  they  are 


I02  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  x. 

the  same  always  wherever  we  see  them.  Such  are 
the  Beatitudes.  High  above  all  earthly  ordinary 
virtues,  they  tower  into  the  heaven  itself.  They 
are  white  with  the  snows  of  eternity.  And  when 
the  shades  of  sickness  and  sorrow  gather  round  us, 
when  other  common  characters  become  cold  and 
dead,  then  those  higher  points  stand  out  brighter 
and  brighter ;  the  glow  of  dayhght  can  be  seen 
reflected  on  their  summits  when  it  has  vanished 
everywhere  beside. 

There  are  many  examples  of  these  different 
virtues.  Sometimes  in  some  rare  cases  w^e  meet 
a  man  or  a  woman  of  whom  it  might  always  be 
said  that  you  see  all  the  eight  Beatitudes  written 
upon  their  faces.  They  belong  to  that  circle  of 
a  very  few  by  whom  the  whole  world  is  made 
happier  and  better.  But  also  we  may  meet  with 
each  of  them  separately  ;  and  we  may,  by  dwelling 
on  their  separate  existence,  as  exemplified  by  the 
living  or  the  dead,  be  enabled  to  see  that  such 
virtues  are  possible  ;  w^e  may  find  comfort  in  dwell- 
ing upon  them.  I  shall  endeavour  to  take  from 
those  who  are  commemorated  in  this  Abbey  some 
one  or  two  persons  for  each  of  these  Beatitudes,  who 
may  give  us  something  of  a  glimpse  of  what  is  meant 
by  the  *pure  in  heart,'  by  the  'merciful,'  by  the 


SERM.  X.  THE  BEATITUDES.  103 


*poor  in  spirit,'  by  the  'peacemakers,'  by  those  who 
'  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,'  and  tliose 
who  are  'persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake.'  If  I 
can  raise  your  minds  to  the  appreciation  of  such 
virtues,  if  I  can  do  this  in  any  way  so  as  to  produce 
an  impression  upon  you  that  we  have  something 
in  hfe  worth  striving  for,  and  that  this  Abbey, 
by  its  various  examples,  has  something  worth 
teaching,  I  shall  not  have  spoken  in  vain. 


XL 
THE   BEATITUDES. 

(Saturday  Afternoon,  June  25,  1881.) 

Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit :  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn:  for  they  shall  be 
comforted. — Matt.  v.  3,  4. 

I  PROPOSE,  in  accordance  with  the  plan  which  I 
laid  down  last  Saturday,  to  take  in  order  what  are 
called  the  Beatitudes,  in  which  our  Saviour  selected 
for  His  approbation  the  qualities  which  He  most 
cherished.  It  will  not  be  supposed  that  these 
qualities  are  equally  found  in  all  persons,  or  that 
their  exemplification  will  always  be  equally  applic- 
able to  Christians  in  different  times  of  the  world. 
The  different  Beatitudes,  as  it  were,  fill  up  the 
deficiencies  which  some  of  them  leave  ;  and  they 
must  be  looked  upon  rather  as  describing  to  us 
points  of  character  that  are  each  in  themselves 
good,  and  which  when  we  see  we  cannot  help 


SERM.  XI.  THE  BEATITUDES.  105 

admiring.  It  is  the  admiration  of  good  qualities 
which  is  the  best  proof  of  spirit  rising  above 
matter.  In  whatever  way  these  quahties  are  pro- 
duced in  man,  whether  inherited  or  acquired,  it 
still  remains  certain  that  so  long  as  there  is  a  spark 
of  enthusiasm  enkindled  for  them  in  any  human 
being,  so  long  is  the  living  proof  retained  of  their 
undying  excellence. 

'  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit.'  This,  like  so 
many  of  our  Saviour's  words,  is,  as  it  were,  a  little 
parable  in  itself.  As  the  poor  man  is  with  regard 
to  the  substance  of  this  world,  so  is  the  'poor 
in  spirit '  with  regard  to  the  various  attractions  of 
the  soul  and  spirit.  Blessed  are  the  unselfish  ; 
happy  are  those  who  live  for  others,  and  not  for 
themselves  ;  happy  are  those  among  us  who  leave 
a  large  margin  in  their  existence  for  the  feelings 
which  come  to  us  from  what  is  above,  and  also 
from  what  is  around  us.  We  know  what  a  man 
is  when  inflated  by  the  sense  of  his  power,  his 
wealth,  and  his  intellect ;  how  he  goes  about  the 
world  asserting  himself,  claiming  everything  on 
which  he  can  lay  his  hands  as  his  own.  That  is 
the  man  whom  we  may  call  purse-proud  in  spirit, 
rich  with  the  prosperity  and  the  aggressiveness  of 
a  powerful,  wealthy  man.     The  quality  which  our 


io6  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xi. 

Saviour  admired  was  the  reverse  of  this.  It  is  to 
be  found  among  the  rich  as  well  as  among  the 
poor,  although,  perhaps,  poverty  more  conduces 
to  it  than  riches.  There  was  a  story  in  old  times 
told  of  a  severe,  cynical  philosopher  visiting  the 
house  of  one  who  was  as  far  his  superior  in  genius 
as  in  modesty.  He  found  the  good  philosopher 
living  in  a  comfortable  house,  with  easy  chairs 
and  pleasant  pictures  round  him,  and  he  came  in 
with  his  feet  stained  with  dust  and  mud,  and  said, 
as  he  walked  upon  the  beautiful  carpets,  '  Thus  I 
trample  on  the  pride  of  Plato.'  The  good  philo- 
sopher paid  no  attention  at  the  time,  but  returned 
the  visit,  and  when  he  saw  the  ragged  furniture  and 
the  scanty  covering  of  the  floor  of  the  house  in 
which  the  other  ostentatiously  lived,  he  said,  '  I 
see  the  pride  of  Diogenes  through  the  holes  in  his 
carpet.'  Many  a  one  there  is  whose  pride  is  thus 
shown  by  his  affecting  to  be  without  it ;  many  a 
one  whose  poverty,  whose  modesty  in  spirit,  can 
best  be  appreciated  by  seeing  how  the  outward 
comforts  and  splendour  of  life  can  be  used  by  him 
without  paying  any  attention  to  them. 

There  is  another  way  in  which  this  unselfish 
feeling  expresses  itself — feeling  for  what  is  above  us. 
*  Reverence,'  Shakespeare  says,  'is  the  angel  of  the 


SERM.  XI.  THE  BEATITUDES.  107 

world.'  It  is  the  angel  of  the  world  by  smoothing 
and  softening,  and  bringing  into  their  right  propor- 
tions, all  the  jarring  elements  of  the  human  mind 
and  human  heart.  It  is  what  Burke  described  as 
produced  by  the  entrance  into  this  Abbey.  '  The 
moment  we  enter  into  the  Abbey,'  he  said,  'the 
very  silence  seems  sacred  ' ;  and  Wordsworth  says  : 

Be  mine  in  hours  of  fear 
Or  grovelling  thought  to  seek  a  refuge  here ; 
*  *  #  * 

Where  bubbles  burst,  and  folly's  dancing  foam 
Melts  if  it  cross  the  threshold. 

Some  one  has  described  how  a  great  American 
orator  and  statesman,  Webster,  first  entered  the 
Abbey.  He  walked  in,  he  looked  around  him,  and 
he  burst  into  tears.  That  is  the  acknowledgment 
of  something  undefined,  mysterious,  superior  to 
ourselves,  and  superior  to  all  common  things,  which 
is  the  root  of  all  religion,  and  which  springs  from 
that  modesty  and  humility  of  spirit  which  is  de- 
scribed in  the  first  Beatitude. 

It  is  well  said  that  'theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.'  We  do  not,  perhaps,  perceive  at  once 
the  success  of  those  who  are  thinking  of  this  or  of 
higher  things ;  but,  nevertheless,  in  the  long  run  it 
is  sure  to  be  theirs.    There  is  a  story  told  of  a  Welsh 


io8  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xi. 


chieftain,  who,  on  coming  with  his  followers  to 
a  river,  said,  '  He  who  will  be  master  must  first 
make  himself  a  bridge  ' ;  and  he  carried  them,  one 
after  another,  on  his  back  until  they  reached  the 
opposite  shore.  That  is  what  we  must  all  do.  We 
must  make  ourselves  the  slaves  of  others,  doing 
their  work,  securing  their  interests  ;  if  we  wish  to 
be  in  a  high  sense  their  lords  and  masters,  we  must 
be,  all  of  us  in  our  way,  the  servants  of  the  public, 
not  by  doing  their  bidding,  but  by  defending  their 
interests ;  not  by  listening  to  their  follies,  but  by 
seeking  their  good.  There  are  two  characters 
whose  memory  is  enshrined  in  this  church,  who 
may  be  chosen  out  of  many  as  instances  of  un- 
selfish qualities.  One  is  its  first  founder,  Edward 
the  Confessor.  There  was  nothing  in  him  of 
ability  or  power  to  commend  him  ;  he  had  just 
one  single  merit,  that  he  thought  more  of  the  poor 
and  the  suffering  than  he  did  of  himself ;  and  for 
that  reason  the  poor  and  the  suffering  for  long 
years  afterwards  remembered  him  with  gratitude  ; 
and  when  the  Abbey  was  rebuilt  by  Henry  HI.,  it 
was  in  commemoration  of  these  unselfish  quali- 
ties of  the  last  Saxon  king.  Another  example  is 
to  be  seen,  of  a  very  different  kind,  at  the  very  ex- 
tremity of  the  nave,  where  is  a  monument  erected 


SERM.  XI.  THE  BEATITUDES,  109 


to  a  young  philosopher,  a  clergyman,  who,  in  the 
short  space  ot  a  life  which  lasted  only  twenty-one 
years,  made  discoveries  in  science  of  a  most  sur- 
piising  kind.  His  name  was  Jeremiah  Horrocks. 
There  was  one  thing  which  he  felt,  however,  had  a 
higher  claim  upon  him  even  than  science.  It  was 
the  doing  his  duty  in  the  humble  sphere  in  which 
he  found  himself;  and  when  he  was  on  the  eve  of 
watching  the  transit  of  the  planet  Venus  across  the 
sun,  and  was  waiting  with  the  utmost  keenness  of 
observation  for  this  phenomenon,  he  put  all  these 
thoughts  aside,  and  went  on  the.  Sunday  on  which 
this  sight  was  to  be  observed  to  perform  his 
humble  parish  duty  in  the  church  where  he  was 
pastor.  He  mentions  it  in  his  journal  in  words 
which  are  now  written  over  his  monument : 
*  Called  aside  to  greater  things,  which  ought  not  to 
be  neglected  for  the  sake  of  subordinate  pursuits.' 
Subordinate,  secondary,  in  one  sense,  those  pur- 
suits could  not  be,  for  they  were  the  discovery  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  greatness  of  His  works ;  but 
subordinate,  in  another  sense,  they  were,  for  they 
came  across,  in  that  instance,  the  single-minded  dis- 
charge of  the  duty  which  he  owed  to  his  parishioners 
and  to  his  Divine  Master.  It  was  a  true  example 
of  what  an  old  poet  has   called    'high  humility.' 


no  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xi. 

Whatever  you  have  to  do,  do  it,  whatever  and  how- 
ever great  may  be  things  that  would  take  you  from  it. 
I  turn  to  the  next  Beatitude,  which  falls  in  not 
unnaturally  with  this.  It  is  '  Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn.'  The  whole  Abbey  is  indeed  filled  with  the 
shadows  of  those  that  mourn.  Every  funeral,  or 
almost  every  funeral,  even  the  most  splendid  that 
takes  place  within  these  walls,  has  some  sincere  and 
heart-rending  sorrow  involved  in  the  separation  of 
death  ;  always,  or  almost  always,  I  have  observed 
there  have  been  sad  faces  in  the  long  funeral  pro- 
cessions which  have  accompanied  the  great  and 
famous  to  their  end  ;  sad  faces  indifferent  to  the 
splendour  of  the  scene  around  them,  and  lost  in 
the  thought  of  the  dear  friend  or  father  or  husband 
or  son  who  had  gone  down  into  the  dark  grave. 
'What,'  we  ask  again  and  again — 'what  is  the 
object  of  these  dreadful  sorrows?  What  is  the 
gracious  purpose  which  may  be  intended  in  these 
repeated  strokes  of  human  calamity  ? '  It  is  hard 
to  say  ;  but  thus  much  we  may  say — that  if  every 
one  were  to  lift  up  his  mind  to  the  thoughts  which 
arise  at  such  moments,  he  would  be  in  a  condition 
far  indeed  raised  above  the  frets  and  cares  and  sins 
of  common  life.  There  is  in  the  grief  of  such 
tunes  a  tranquiUising,  solemnising,  elevating  wisdom, 


SERM.  XI.  THE  BEATITUDES.  in 

which  transports  even  the  most  hardened  amongst 
us  into  a  region  beyond  himself.  Any  one  who 
thinks  how  greatly  he  would  regret  bitter  or  foolish 
words  or  acts  toward  the  dead  as  they  lie  before 
him,  has  a  constant  reminder  that  such  acts  and 
words  are  against  the  best  spirit  of  a  man  as  he 
actually  lives  and  moves  among  his  fellows.  Think 
of  what  you  are  in  sorrow.  That  is  a  true  likeness 
of  the  high  thoughts  that  we  ought  to  have,  that  we 
may  have  always.  In  tlis  sense,  therefore,  we  may 
truly  say  that  in  the  mourning  of  which  this  house 
of  God  is  the  constant  memorial,  there  is  a  true 
source  of  comfort  which  never  can  be  effaced. 
Because  it  is  the  temple  of  silence  and  recon- 
ciliation, it  is  the  temple  of  God  and  the  home  of 
man.  One  touch  of  nature,  it  is  said,  makes  the 
whole  world  kin  ;  but  it  is  because  one  touch  of 
nature  lifts  us  up  into  that  higher  and  nobler  state 
in  which  we  are  kindred  of  each  other,  because 
we  then  feel  that  we  are  kindred  also  with  God. 
All  the  graves  in  the  Abbey  more  or  less  convey 
this  lesson.  Let  nie  name  one,  which  has  nothing 
else  to  commend  it  except  its  suggestive  sorrows 
It  is  in  the  Cloisters,  where  the  parents  have 
written  on  a  tablet  over  their  little  girl,  '  Jane 
Lister,  dear  child,  died   October  7,   1688.'     That 


112  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xi. 

is  all.  It  was  at  the  time  when  every  one  was 
thinking  of  the  stirring  events  which  were  lead- 
ing to  the  revolution  of  1688,  but  these  parents 
thought  of  nothing  else  than  their  dear  little  child ; 
their  hearts  were  not  on  earth,  but  in  heaven, 
where  they  hoped  that  she  was.  We  cannot  doubt 
that  in  so  mourning  they  were  comforted. 


XII. 
THE  BEATITUDES. 

(Saturday  Afternoon,  July  2,  i8Si.) 

Blessed  are  the  meek :  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth. 
Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righfeous- 
tiess :  for  they  shall  be  filled. — Matt.  v.  5,  6. 

I  PROCEED  with  my  statement  of'  those  whom  our 
Saviour  has  called  '  happy.'  'Blessed  are  the  meek.' 
Those  of  you  who  have  followed  the  changes  made 
in  the  translation  by  the  Revised  Version,  will  have 
observed  that  these  Beatitudes  are  left  entirely  un- 
changed ;  and  this  is  due  to  the  great  solemnity 
which  attaches  to  the  words.  But  in  this  instance 
the  word  '  meek '  hardly  expresses  the  quality 
which  is  meant  in  the  original.  It  is  too  passive  a 
word  ;  it  does  not  sufficiently  represent  the  active 
character  which  is  intended.  Those  of  you  who 
can  understand  French  will  recognise  this  in  the 
French  translation  :   ^  Bknhenreux  S07it  les  dcbon- 


114  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xii. 

naires' ;  that  is  to  say,  '  Happy  are  the  gracious, 
graceful,  Christian  characters  who,  by  their  cour- 
tesy, win  all  hearts  around  them,  and  smoothe  all 
the  rough  places  of  the  world.'  Perhaps  '  Blessed 
are  the  geJitle'  would  best  express  it.  If  we  give  to 
the  w^ord  '  gentle  '  all  the  meanings  that  it  properly 
imphes,  it  is  the  opposite  of  'vulgar,'  'coarse,' 
' barbarian  ' ;  it  is  the  '  delicate,'  'refined,'  'civilised,' 
'  chivalrous.'  We  know  its  meaning  w^hen  it  is 
mixed  up  with  another  word,  as  in  'gentleman,'  or 
*gentleman-like.' 

Our  Saviour  on  one  occasion  said,  '  Come  unto 
Me ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart.'  It  really 
was,  '  For  I  am  gejitle ' ;  and  it  is  said  by  an  old 
poet  of  our  Saviour  that  He  was  'the  first  true 
gentleman  that  ever  breathed.'  Both  the  word 
'  gentle  '  and  the  word  '  gentleman  '  rise  very  high 
above  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term.  A 
peasant,  an  artisan,  if  he  has  this  gracious  quality 
of  feeling  for  others,  the  courteous  eagerness  to 
avoid  offence,  may  be  as  great  a  gentleman,  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word,  as  any  duke  or  any 
prince.  'He  was  a  very  perfect,  gentle  knight,' 
was  the  description  given  by  Chaucer  of  a  true 
gentleman  in  his  day ;  and  the  words  may  be 
appUed  to  one  of  our  own  time  who  is  buried  in 


SERM.  XII.  THE  BEATITUDES. 


our  Abbey — George  Grote,  the  historian  of  Greece, 
whose  urbanity  lives  in  the  recollection  of  all  who 
knew  him. 

These  are  the  kind  of  qualities  which  penetrate 
into  every  comer,  and  which  may  be,  therefore, 
truly  said  to  inherit  the  whole  earth.  How  very 
much  may  be  done  by  a  kind  answer  at  a  railway 
station  by  a  railway  porter  !  How  very  much 
pleasure,  and  even  happiness,  may  be  given  by  the 
policeman  at  the  corner  of  the  streets  !  How  fully 
the  duties  of  life  are  transformed  into  graces  and 
pleasures  by  such  gentle  acts  ! 

It  has  been  sometimes  said  of  persons,  both  in 
high  stations  and  in  humbler  stations,  that,  next 
to  being  Christians,  the  great  thing  was  that  they 
should  be  gentlemen ;  that  even  if  they  were  not 
called  Christians,  it  was  a  great  comfort  to  feel 
that  one  had  a  gentleman  to  deal  with.  And  the 
happiness  they  distribute  returns  on  themselves  ; 
for  what  can  be  more  charming  than  to  be  gifted  with 
those  divine  qualities  which  pass,  one  hardly  knows 
how,  into  the  rough  feelings  and  habits  of  those 
around  us,  and  diffuse  all  about  us  an  atmosphere 
of  gratitude  and  contentment — the  determination 
not  to  give  or  take  offence  ;  the  instinct  that 
tells  us  that  it  is   our   business   to   pay  attention 

I  2 


ii6  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xii. 

especially  to  the  neglected,  and  not  to  think  only 
of  the  great?  These  are  qualities  which  we  may 
well  call  blessed,  which  may  be  found  both  in  man 
and  woman  ;  and  an  example  of  it  I  will  choose 
from  this  Abbey  is  a  lady  who  lived  more  than  300 
years  ago.  Her  tomb  maybe  seen  in  Henry  VH.'s 
Chapel,  and  it  is  the  most  beautiful  and  venerable 
figure  that  this  church  contains.  It  is  Margaret, 
the  mother  of  King  Henry  VII.,  who  is  said,  by 
her  gracious  and  gentle  manners,  to  have  attracted 
all  hearts  towards  her.  *  Every  one  that  knew  her ' 
• — so  it  was  said  in  her  funeral  sermon, — '  every  one 
that  knew  her  loved  her,  and  everything  that  she 
said  or  she  did  became  her.'  She  was  full  of  noble 
thoughts  for  her  country ;  she  counted  it  to  be  her 
sacred  duty  to  end  the  Civil  War  of  the  Roses  by 
securing  the  marriage  of  her  son  with  Elizabeth  01 
York.  She  founded  colleges  of  learning  at  Cam- 
bridge; she  bequeathed  money  for  the  poor  or 
Westminster;  and,  as  if  to  show  how  the  gracious 
and  beautiful  conduct  which  was  so  characteristic 
of  a  lady  in  the  highest  walks  of  hfe  could  de- 
scend to  the  humblest  station,  she  used  to  say 
that  if  the  Christians  would  combine  against  their 
common  enemy  the  Turk,  she  would  undertake 
to  go  as  their  washerwoman.     She  felt,  no  doubt, 


SERM.  XII.  THE  BEATITUDES.  117 


that  she  could  carry  the  dignity  of  a  lady  into  that 
humble  sphere :  and,  in  like  manner,  every  washer- 
woman or  servant  in  this  church  might  perform 
their  duties  of  laundress  and  servant  with  the  true 
grace  and  dignity  of  a  lady. 

The  next  quality  which  our  Saviour  blesses  is 
thus  expressed  :  They  who  'hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness.'  He  does  not  say,  *  Those  who 
have  attained  righteousness,'  but  those  who  have  a 
hungering  and  craving  after  that  A\hich  they  per- 
haps have  not  reached,  which  they  perhaps  never, 
in  this  life,  may  fully  attain  to,  but  which  to  seek 
after  is  the  truest  ambition  of  the  children  of  God. 

When  we  look  out  into  the  world,  when  we 
see  how  much  there  is  of  falsehood  and  injustice 
and  oppression  all  around,  there  is  one  consoling 
thing;  and  that  is  to  see  some  who  are  filled  with 
an  earnest  desire  to  make  things  better  than  they 
are. 

There  was  a  band  of  youthful  scholars  who  met 
many  years  ago  in  Germany,  and  they  bound 
each  other  by  a  simple  resolution  that  they  would 
not  die  until  they  had  done  something  to  leave  the 
world  better  than  they  found  it.  There  is  such  a 
thing,  we  know,  as  thirst  after  knowledge.  Every 
one   knows  what    a    craving    there    exists,   even 


ii8  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xii. 

amongst  the  humbler  classes,  for  knowledge  and 
learning.  And  the  same  figure  of  *  thirst '  best 
expresses  the  ardent  feeling  of  the  soul  for  a 
nobler  and  purer  life  than  that  which  we  now 
have.  '  Like  as  the  hart ' — like  as  the  stag — • 
*  desireth  w^ater  brooks,  so  longeth  my  soul  after 
Thee,  O  God.'  We  may  have  read  how  a  stag — a 
stricken  solitary  deer,  with  the  tears  streaming  down 
its  cheeks,  panting  and  heaving  with  its  weary  toil 
at  the  end  of  its  day's  long  chase — plunges  into 
the  mountain  torrent  to  bathe  its  worn-out  limbs, 
or  revels  in  the  refreshing  lake.  It  is  a  likeness 
of  what,  in  common  life  we  recognise — the  thirst 
of  the  soldier  on  his  march  as  he  approaches 
the  rushing  river  ;  the  thirst  of  the  pohtician, 
after  his  weary  nights  and  days  of  toil,  for  moments 
of  repose;  the  thirst  of  the  labourer  and  the  artisan 
after  a  long  day's  work.  There  is  a  representation 
in  the  Catacombs,  on  one  of  the  Christian  tombs, 
of  a  stag  drinking  eagerly  at  the  silver  stream, 
figuring  the  first  sign  of  the  Christian  life. 

This  is  the  true  likeness  of  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  righteousness.  When  we  are  toiling 
towards  the  close  of  our  earthly  course,  or  in  any 
especial  period  of  it  ;  when  we  feel  stifled  by  the 
sultry  and  suffocating  sense  of  the  hardness  and 


SERM.  xir.  THE  BEATITUDES.  119 

selfishness  of  the  world  about  us  ;  when  our  breath 
is,  as  it  were,  choked  by  the  trifles  and  forms  and 
fashions  of  the  world  we  live  in,  or  our  ears  deafened 
by  the  clattering  of  the  world's  vast  machinery,  we 
may  still  join  the  cry,  '  I  thirst  for  the  refreshing 
sight  of  any  pure,  upright,  generous  spirit ;  I  thirst 
for  the  day  when  I  may  drink  freely  of  God's 
boundless  charity ;  I  thirst  for  the  day  when  I  shall 
hear  the  "  sound  of  abundance  of  rain,"  and  see 
a  higher  heaven  than  that  which  now  incloses  us 
round.' 

Happy  are  they  who,  when  they  see  generous 
deeds,  and  hear  of  generous  characters  higher  than 
their  own,  long  to  be  like  them.  It  is  our  business 
to  keep  up  the  chase  ;  not  to  cease  our  efforts  to 
quench  this  thirst ;  never  to  be  '  weary  in  well- 
doing,' and  to  believe  that  in  this  hunger  and 
thirst  is  the  spring  of  all  true  religion. 

There  was  once  in  this  country  and  in  this 
church  a  wild  young  prince,  who  selfishly  indulged 
in  all  the  enjoyments  and  passions  of  youth.  By 
his  father's  death-bed  he  was  brought  to  a  sense  of 
better  things,  and  from  that  moment  his  soul  went 
on  constantly  aspiring  to  higher  and  severer  courses 
of  duty.  It  was  King  Henry  V.,  whose  tomb  you 
may  see  behind  Edward  the  Confessor's  Chapel. 


I20  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xii. 

He  especially  attended  to  the  complaints  of  the 
poor,  and  those  who  had  none  to  help  them. 
Unlike  his  ancestors  and  his  kindred,  he  never 
swore  any  profane  oath.  He  had  only  two  words 
to  express  the  strength  of  his  determination  and 
show  what  his  resolution  was.  When  anything  was 
proposed  to  him  that  was  wrong,  his  one  word  was 
'Impossible';  when  anything  in  the  shape  of  a 
duty  came  before  him,  he  had  only  one  word,  '  It 
must  be  done.'  During  many  days  his  life  as  a 
soldier  was  unlike  what  one  would  desire  ;  but  he 
almost  always  had  before  him  the  sense  of  holier 
things  ;  and  when  at  last  his  end  grew  near,  his 
dying  words  were,  '  Build  thou  the  walls  of  Jeru- 
salem ' ;  and,  as  if  speaking  to  the  evil  spirit  that 
had  haunted  his  youth,  he  cried,  'Thou  liest !  thou 
liest !  my  heart  is  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  This, 
in  times  long  ago,  was  an  example  how  they  which 
'hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness'  can  be 
filled — can  be  satisfied,  at  last,  with  the  hope  of 
having  mastered  their  evil  passions,  and  attained 
to  that  conquest  over  themselves  which  is  more 
glorious  than  conquest  over  their  enemies. 

There  are  many  others  in  this  church  who  may 
recall  to  our  minds  the  same  thoughts  as  we  wander 
round  it — many  who  had  before  them  a  great  and 


SERM.  XII.  THE  BEATITUDES.  121 

bright  idea  of  human  life,  and  who  did  something 
to  realise  it  ;  such  as  those  who  laboured  for  the 
abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  like  Granville  Sharp, 
Zachary  Macaulay,  and  Wilberforce  ;  those,  also, 
who  laboured  for  the  revival  of  more  serious 
thoughts  and  more  just  principles  of  action 
amongst  their  countrymen,  like  John  and  Charles 
Wesley.  Let  us  seek  to  aspire  in  some  degree 
towards  their  goodness,  and  humbly  trust  that, 
when  we  wake  up  from  our  long  sleep,  we  may 
awake  after  their  likeness  and  the  likeness  of  the 
God  whom  they  followed,  and  may  be  'satisfied 
with  it.' 


XIII. 
THE  BEATITUDES. 

(Saturday  Afternoon,  July  9,  188 1.) 

Blessed  are  the  merciful :  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy. 
Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see  God.— 
Matt.  v.  7,  8. 

'  Blessed  are  the  merciful.'  This  especially  illus- 
trates what  I  said  at  the  beginning  of  these  dis- 
courses, that  the  object  of  each  of  the  Beatitudes 
is  to  bring  out  the  beauty  of  one  particular  quality 
without  commending  the  other  quahties  which  may 
exist  in  the  same  character  with  it.  We  see  many 
men  of  very  imperfect  morality,  and  yet  in  whom 
this  quality  of  mercy  is  such  as  to  make  us  feel  that, 
if  it  were  universal  amongst  mankind,  the  whole 
world  would  be  the  happier  for  it,  and  that  in  those 
in  whom  it  is  found  it  is  a  redeeming  virtue  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  word — a  virtue  which  redeems 
from  condemnation  and  detestation  the  whole  cha- 


SERM.  XIII.  THE  BEATITUDES.  123 

racter  in  which  it  is  found  embedded.  It  is  said 
that  Lord  Brougham  made  a  resolution  that  he 
would  count  that  day  no  day  on  which  he  had  not  done 
some  one  act  of  kindness  towards  some  one  fellow- 
creature.  Lord  Brougham  was  a  man  oi  many  faults; 
but,  if  this  resolution  were  sincerely  made  and  sin- 
cerely acted  upon,  it  is  wonderful  how  much  good 
it  implies  in  the  course  of  his  long  life.  We  see  the 
same  thing  by  examples  where  the  reverse  has  been 
the  case,  where  men  have  so  hardened  their  hearts, 
or  had  their  hearts  so  hard  from  the  beginning, 
that  they  are  steeled  against  all  approaches  to  pity 
and  compassion.  Look  at  the  cases  of  the  betrayal 
of  innocent  girls  to  their  ruin.  Much  else  may 
be  said  of  these  cases  ;  but  one  thing  is  that  which 
the  prophet  urged  against  David — that  he  had  no 
pity. 

Look,  again,  at  the  case  of  assassinations — 
those  assassinations  which  during  the  last  few 
months  have  become  so  formidable.  I  do  not  now 
speak  of  the  unsetding  of  all  the  bonds  of  society; 
I  speak  only  of  the  total  want  of  compassion  and 
mercy  which  they  show  towards  the  individuals 
who  are  the  victims  of  this  frenzy.  The  Emperor 
of  Russia  ^  was  a  man  with  the  same  affections  and 
'  Alexander  IL  assassinated  March  i-g,  1881. 


124  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xiii. 

feelings  as  yourselves,  with  sons  and  daughters  as 
you  have ;  the  President  of  the  United  States  ^  had 
friends  and  family,  who  are  dearly  attached  to  him. 
It  is  said  that  the  assassin  did  for  a  moment  waver, 
because  he  felt  a  passing  weakness  in  the  presence 
of  the  wife  whom  he  was  about  to  deprive  of  a 
husband.  We  often  say  that  Emperors,  Kings,  and 
Presidents  are  '  the  same  flesh  and  blood '  as  ourselves, 
meaning  that  they  have  the  same  infirmities  and 
the  same  faults.  In  all  these  cases  it  is  for  the  wel- 
fare and  the  safety  of  mankind  that  the  common  say- 
ing should  have  a  more  extended  meaning  given  to 
it.  Yes,  it  is  because  these  great  personages  are  the 
same  flesh  and  blood  as  ourselves  that  they  demand 
from  us  the  kindly  consideration  which  we  should 
give  to  our  own  brothers,  sisters,  daughters,  and 
husbands.  Look,  again,  at  the  French  Revolution 
and  the  Inquisition,  and  at  the  cruelties  per- 
petrated in  the  name  of  Liberty  in  the  one  case  and 
of  Religion  in  the  other.  What  was  the  cause  of 
this  ?  It  was  simply  that  the  feeling  of  humanity, 
of  mercy,  had  died  out  in  the  hearts  of  those 
unhappy  men  who  rose  to  the  highest  places  of 
authority,  and  that  therefore  they  had  no  eyes  to 

2  President  Garfield,  shot  by  an  assassin,  July   2,  died 
September  19,  1881. 


SERM.  XIII  THE  BEATITUDES.  125 

see  and  no  ears  to  hear  the  tears  and  misery  that 
they  produced. 

But  let  us  take  a  wider  sphere  of  compassion, 
which  is  due  not  only  to  human  beings,  but  to 
all  living  creatures,  whether  of  our  own  or  of  the 
animal  creation.  Martin  of  Galway  !  see  what  an 
immense  circle  of  happiness  he  .has  diffused  by 
reason  of  the  Acts  for  restraining  cruelty  to  animals 
which  he  carried  through  Parliament  amidst  ob- 
loquy of  every  kind,  in  defiance  of  the  press,  in 
defiance  of  popular  opinion.  How  many  a  wearied 
horse,  and  jaded  ox,  and  suffering  dog,  if  they  had 
voices  to  speak,  would  bless  the  name  of  Martin 
for  the  long-continued  blessings  which  he  has 
showered  upon  them  !  It  is  surely  not  too  much 
to  ask  that  this  mercy  or  compassion  to  dumb 
animals  should  be  made  part  of  the  very  religion  of 
childhood,  that  children  may  grow  up  to  manhood 
with  something  of  the  same  horror  of  cruelty  to 
beasts  and  birds  that  they  would  feel  with  regard  to 
each  other. 

There  are  two  persons  connected  with  this 
church  whom  I  will  specially  name  as  examples 
of  the  virtue  of  mercy,  even  when  surrounded 
by  many  qualities  which  we  cannot  admire  or 
approve.     One  was  the  statesman,  Charles  James 


126  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xiii. 


Fox,  whose  monument  you  see  in  the  nave  of  this 
Abbey.  At  his  feet  there  kneels  a  negro,  with 
clasped  hands,  and  with  the  strongly  marked 
physiognomy  of  his  race,  seeming  to  plead  for 
the  generous-minded  benefactor,  in  whose  heart, 
immersed  as  it  was  in  public  affairs  and  in  private 
pleasures,  the  wrongs  of  those  whom  he  had  never 
seen  awakened  a  spark  of  deep  compassion  and  of 
just  indignation,  which  causes  him  to  be  remem- 
bered m  that  noble  band  whom  I  mentioned  last 
Saturday  as  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteous- 
ness, but  who  was  himself  drawn  towards  that  holy 
fellowship  solely  by  this  feeling  of  mercy  and  com- 
passion. The  other  is  Charles  Dickens.  There 
are  many  charges  that  might  be  brought  against 
his  style,  and  perhaps  against  his  behaviour ;  but 
there  was  one  quality  which  attracted  to  his  grave 
the  honour  and  the  tears  of  English  men  and  Eng- 
lish women  of  all  classes,  especially  the  poor — it 
was  that  he  had  a  tender  heart  for  their  sufferings, 
that  he  had  that  insight,  which,  perhaps,  he  was 
the  first  to  display,  into  the  squalor  and  temptations 
and  wretchedness  of  their  position,  which  won  him 
an  everlasting  name  among  the  benefactors  of  the 
humbler  classes.  Truly  is  it  said  that  the  merciful 
shall  obtain  mercy.     We  cannot  believe  that  the 


SERM.  XIII.  THE  BEATITUDES.  127 


generous  and  merciful  acts  of  such  men  as  these 
can  ever  be  lost  in  the  sight  of  God  by  reason  of  the 
other  faults  with  which  they  are  surrounded.  It  is 
the  very  quality  on  which  our  Saviour's  blessing  has 
been  most  distinctly  pronounced.  'Forgive,'  He 
says,  'and  ye  shall  be  forgiven.'  '  Give,  and  it  shall 
be  given  unto  you.'  And  the  feeling  of  posterity 
and  the  feeling  of  contemporaries  is,  after  all,  some 
slight  index  of  what  we  may  call  in  this  respect  the 
final  judgment  of  God. 

'  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart.'  This  is  the 
next  Beatitude,  but  one  altogether  different  from 
that  of  which  we  have  just  been  speaking.  The 
one  quality  is  found  sometimes  not  coupled 
with  the  other  ;  nevertheless,  in  this  case  also 
we  feel  that  our  Saviour's  blessing  has  gone 
straight  to  the  point.  The  words  may  bear  a  two- 
fold meaning — pure,  disinterested  love  of  truth, 
and  pure  and  clean  aversion  to  everything  that 
defiles.  Pure  love  of  truth  !  How  very  rare,  yet 
how  very  beneficent  !  We  do  not  see  its  merits 
at  once  ;  we  do  not  perceive,  perhaps  even  in  the 
next  generation,  how  widely  happiness  is  increased 
in  the  world  by  the  discoveries  of  men  of  science 
who  pursued  them  simply  and  solely  because  they 
were  attracted  towards  them  by  a  single-minded 


128  THE  BEATITUDES,  serm.  xiii. 

love  of  what  was  true.  Look  at  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
the  most  famous  grave  which  this  church  contains. 
It  v/as  said  by  those  who  knew  him  that  he  had 
the  whitest  soul  they  had  ever  known — the  whitest 
soul,  perhaps,  in  other  points  also,  but  the  whitest 
especially  in  this,  that  no  consideration  ever  came 
across  his  desire  of  ascertaining  and  propounding 
the  exact  truth  on  whatever  subject  he  was  engaged. 
Corrupt  elections,  corrupt  motives,  are  the  very 
reverse  of  this  Beatitude.  Open  your  eyes  !  Take 
the  mask  off  your  faces  ! 

Again,  purity  from  all  that  defiles  or  stains  the 
soul.  Filthy  thoughts,  filthy  actions,  filthy  words 
— we  know  what  they  are  without  attempting  to 
describe  them.  How  can  the  mind  best  be  kept 
free  from  their  intrusion?  How  is  society  best 
guarded  from  their  corrupting  influence  ?  Let  us 
take  three  examples  from  those  who  are  buried  or 
who  have  monuments  in  this  church.  Milton  has 
not  only  told  us  that  he  was  from  his  earliest  youth 
entirely  free  from  such  defilements,  but  he  imprinted 
it  in- such  a  manner  in  the  words  of  his  poems 
that  no  one  can  read  those  poems  and  admire 
them  without  feeling  as  if  he  had  passed  into  a  keen 
and  frosty  atmosphere,  where  all  low  and  debasing 
thoughts   vanish  away.     Look  at   his   description 


SERM.  XIII.  THE  BEATITUDES.  129 


of  chastity  in  '  Comus  ' ;  look  at  his  description  of 
the  purity  of  married  life  in  '  Paradise  Lost.'  Are 
they  not  as  a  sword  and  shield  with  which  we  may 
defend  ourselves  against  all  the  fiery  darts  of  temp- 
tation? Addison,  again,  lived  at  a  time  when  the 
profligacy  which  broke  over  England  in  the  reac- 
tion against  the  too  great  severity  of  the  Puritans 
overran  and  undermined  all  literature  and  all  mo- 
rality. Addison  furnished  a  literature  in  which  there 
was  at  once  everything  to  please,  and  nothing  to 
give  countenance  to  those  gross  and  dark  images 
which  had  haunted  the  imagination  of  his  contem- 
poraries. It  shows  what  can  be  done  by  one  man 
in  this  respect,  that  Macaulay,  who  lies  beside  his 
statue,  and  who  has  written  an  essay  to  commemor- 
ate the  benefactions  which  Addison  bestowed  upon 
England,  has  given  foremost  place  to  this,  that 
Addison  effected  a  great  social  reform,  and  recon- 
ciled wit  and  virtue  after  a  long  and  disastrous 
separation,  in  which  wit  had  been  led  astray  by  pro- 
fligacy, and  virtue  by  fanaticism,  ^^'ordsworth  has 
the  glory  of  having  not  only  abstained  from  anything 
which  can  injure  or  defile  the  soul,  but  of  fixing 
the  mind  upon  those  simple  affections  and  upon 
those  great  natural  objects  of  beauty  and  grandeur 
which  are  the  best  preservatives  against  any  such 

K 


I30  THE  BEATITUDES.  serm.  xiii. 

attempts  to  corrupt  and  stain  our  existence.  We 
sometimes  hear  it  said  that  these  dark  and  fleshly- 
ideas  are  necessary  accompaniments  of  genius  or  of 
poetry.  Not  so.  In  the  case  of  Shakespeare,  and 
even  more  remarkably  in  the  case  of  Byron,  what 
they  have  written  that  is  low  and  filthy  is  not  poetry, 
is  not  that  which  commends  them  for  ever  to  the 
gratitude  of  their  contemporaries  and  countrymen. 
It  is  in  proportion  as  they  are  pure,  in  proportion 
as  they  are  clean,  in  proportion  as  they  are  elevated 
above  anything  like  such  corrupt  thoughts,  that 
they  become  our  guides  and  our  delight. 

And  what  is  the  reason  that  our  Saviour  gives 
for  this  blessedness  of  the  '  pure  in  heart '  ?  It  is 
that  '  they  shall  see  God.'  What  is  the  meaning  of 
this  ?  It  is  that  of  all  the  obstacles  which  may 
intervene  between  us  and  an  insight  into  the 
nature  of  the  invisible  and  the  Divine,  nothing 
presents  so  coarse  and  so  thick  a  veil  as  on  the 
one  hand  a  false,  artificial,  crooked  way  of  looking 
at  truth,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  indulgence  of 
brutal  and  impure  passions  ;  and  nothing  can  so 
clear  up  our  better  thoughts,  nothing  leaves  our 
minds  so  open  to  receive  the  impression  of  what  is 
good  and  noble,  as  the  single  eye  and  the  pure  con- 
science ;  which  we  may  not,  perhaps,  be  able  to 


SERM.  XIII.  THE  BEATITUDES.  131 

reach  of  ourselves,  but  which  are  an  indispensable 
condition  of  having  the  doors  of  our  minds  open, 
and  the  channel  of  communication  kept  free  be- 
tween us  and  the  supreme  and  eternal  fountain  ot 
all  purity  and  of  all  goodness. 

[This  was  Dean  Stanley's  last  Sermon.  It  was 
preached  on  July  9,  1881,  and  he  died  on  the  i8th 
of  the  same  month.] 


XIV. 
THE   FAITHFUL  SERVANT. 

(Preached  at  Alderley,  on  February  lo,  1856,  on  the  death 
of  Sarah  Burgess,  for  thirty-eight  years  the  devoted  and 
beloved  servant  of  the  family  of  the  Rev.  Edward 
Stanley.) 

Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant ;  thon  hast  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things :  T  ivill  make  thee  rnler  over  many 
things  :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.  — '^a.tt.  xxv.  23. 

The  Parable  from  which  these  words  are  taken  is 
one  of  the  most  important  in  the  whole  Bible.  It 
describes  mankind  not  only  according  to  the  general 
division  of  the  good  and  bad  ;  but  according  to 
those  many  varieties  and  divisions  of  character, 
pursuits,  opportunities,  which  we  actually  see  with 
our  eyes  in  this  world.  'The  kingdom  of  Heaven 
is  as  a  man  travelling  into  a  far  country,  who 
called  his  own  servants  and  delivered  unto  them 
his  goods  ;  and  unto  one  he  gave  five  talents,  to 


SERM.  XIV.      THE  FAITHFUL   SERVANT.  133 

another  two,  and  to  another  one,  to  every  man 
according  to  his  several  ability.''  ^  Look  round  any 
congregation,  any  circle  of  our  acquaintance,  any 
family,  this  is  exactly  what  we  see ;  no  two 
persons  have  llie  same  gifts,  or  the  same  advan- 
tages ;  one  has  five  talents,  another  has  two, 
another  has  one.  Scripture  and  experience  speak 
here  the  same  language  ;  every  one  will  feel  that 
thus  far  he  is  sure  from  his  own  knowledge  that 
what  the  Parable  says  is  true.  And  to  every  one 
it  has  its  lesson  to  give  as  it  proceeds.  Many 
passages  of  Scripture  are  intended  to  alarm  the 
very  wicked,  or  to  console  the  very  good ;  but 
this  Parable  is  intended  for  by  far  the  larger  class, 
who  are  neither  very  good  nor  very  wicked  ;  whose 
sin  consists  not  in  doing  what  is  wrong,  but  in 
neglecting  to  do  all  the  good  they  might  do  with 
the  gifts  entrusted  to  them.  Our  Master  is  gone 
away  into  a  far  country.  He  has  left  His  goods 
with  us,  to  use  or  to  neglect.  He  will  not  help  us 
unless  we  help  ourselves.  It  is  no  excuse  to  say 
that  our  opportunities  were  small,  that  we  had 
but  one  talent,  and  that  therefore  we  '  hid  it  in  the 
earth '  :  this  was  the  very  reason  why  we  should 
have  made  the  most  of  it,  why  we  should  have 
'  Matt.  XXV.  14,  15. 


134  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 

'put  it  out  to  the  exchangers,'  so  that  when  our 
Lord  comes  again  '  He  may  receive  his  own  with 
usury.'  2  As  the  Parable  thus  contains  a  warning 
to  the  unfaithful  servants,  so  it  contains  an  en- 
couragement to  all  those  faithful  servants,  be  they 
high  or  low,  who  have  traded  with  their  talents, 
few  or  many,  great  or  small.  It  reminds  us  that 
talents,  used  well  and  faithfully,  bring  with  them, 
both  in  this  world  and  in  the  next,  their  own  great 
reward  ;  that  in  the  great  toil  and  struggle  of  life 
the  race  is  not  to  the  swift  nor  the  battle  to  the 
strong,  but  to  those  who  out  of  little  have  made 
much,  who  out  of  weakness  have  perfected  strength  ; 
who  having  been  faithful  over  'few  things'  have 
been  made  and  will  be  made  'rulers  over  many 
things.' 

This  great  truth,  like  all  the  truths  and  doctrines 
of  Scripture,  is  best  understood  by  example  ;  by 
the  knowledge  of  our  own  hearts,  or  by  the  know- 
ledge of  one  with  whose  character  and  end  we 
have  been  ourselves  acquainted.  Such  an  one  we 
have  known  in  her  whose  remains  we  last  week 
committed  to  the  grave  ;  whose  name,  whose  life, 
whose  voice  and  countenance  have  been  long 
familiar  to  almost  all  in  this  place  ;  who  was  a 
-  Matt.  XXV.  27,  28. 


SERM.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT.  135 

constant  testimony  to  the  truth  of  these  words  of 
our  Saviour. 

Let  us  consider  what  we  may  all  of  us  learn 
from  a  character  and  a  life  which  was  not  granted 
to  us  for  nothing.  It  was  itself  one  of  God's  gifts 
for  our  use.  Let  us  see  how  we  can  still  keep  it 
amongst  us,  how  we  can  still  '  put  it  out  to  the 
exchangers ' :  let  us  not  '  hide  it '  in  the  grave 
which  was  '  digged  in  the  earth '  ^  to  receive  that 
which  was  'of  the  earth,  earthy,'  but  let  us  treasure 
up  the  memory  of  that  part  which  was  '  heavenly/ 
that,  though  we  'have  borne  the  image  of  the 
earthy 'to  her  last  home,  we  may  'bear'  with  us 
'the  image  of  the  heavenly,'  till  we  also  meet  'the 
Lord  from  Heaven.'  "* 

What,  then,  was  the  talent  which  was  com- 
mitted to  her  keeping?  All  who  ever  knew  her 
will  feel  that  in  her  was  lost  a  true  servant,  a  tiue 
friend,  a  true  sister,  a  true  mother  ;  to  many  here, 
as  to  many  elsewhere,  she  was  the  best  likeness  of 
Heaven,  and  heavenly  things,  that  they  had  ever 
known.  What  was  it  that  she  thus  faithfully  used? 
and  how  did  she  use  it? 

Was  it  wealth,  or  station,  or  fame?  No.  She 
was  born  and  bred  in  the  humble  rank  of  so  many 
^  ]^Iatt.  XXV.  iS.  ^  I  Cor.  xv.  47,  48,  49. 


136  THE  FAITHFUL   SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 

amongst  us.  No  books  tell  of  what  she  did ;  no 
great  means  of  guiding,  or  ruling,  or  helping  others 
were  granted  to  her :  she  died,  as  she  had  lived, 
'  not  ministered  unto,  but  ministering.'  Or  was  it 
strength  and  health,  such  as  enables  many  of  us 
to  bear  much,  and  do  much,  '  rising  up  early  and 
late  taking  rest,  eating  the  bread  of  carefulness,' 
'going  forth  to  work  and  to  labour  till  the  even- 
ing'? No.  You  know  well  that  these  were  not 
granted  her  ;  you  remember  well  her  fragile  form, 
her  wasted  features,  faint  and  weary  with  the 
journey  of  life  before  her  years  were  half  numbered ; 
like  a  withered  leaf,  that  a  breath  of  wind  might 
blow  away  in  a  moment.  This  was  what  she  was 
outwardly.  'The  flesh  indeed  was  weak '  and  frail ; 
but  the  'spirit  was  willing'^  and  ready.  It  was 
this  readiness  and  quickness  of  spirit  which  God 
had  given  to  her,  which,  carefully  trained  by 
others,  carefully  trained  by  herself,  carefully  trained 
by  God's  grace,  rose  above  all  weakness  and  in- 
firmity of  body  ;  rose  above  all  humbleness  and 
lowliness  of  station  ;  rose  above  all  selfishness  of 
the  flesh  and  of  the  spirit ;  and  has  risen,  we  may 
humbly  trust,  above  the  power  of  death  and  the 
grave. 

^  Matt.  xxvi.  41. 


SERM.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT.  137 

Let  us  see,  piece  by  piece,  through  her  Hfe, 
how  this  was  carried  out.  Let  me  especially 
commend  her  example  to  the  young  amongst 
us.  Such  as  they  are  now,  such  she  was  once. 
Let  them  think,  as  they  hear  me  describe  what 
she  was,  how  they  may  at  last  be  as  we  trust  she 
is  now.  And  first,  in  her  earliest  years,  in  the 
school  of  this  parish,  she  laid  the  beginning 
of  that  ready  quickness  of  which  I  have  spoken. 
What  she  learned  she  learned  well  :  what  she 
did  she  did  with  her  whole  soul.  There  are 
those  who  can  remember  her  as  she  sat  working 
at  her  humble  task,  with  that  fixed  attention 
which  alone  makes  work  good  and  sure.  Here 
she  first  took  in  that  interest  in  things  around  her, 
in  things  above  her,  which  she  never  afterwards 
lost  :  here  she  first  learned  to  know  and  value 
those  whom  afterwards  it  was  the  happiness  of  her 
life  to  serve,  living  or  dying  :  here  she  first  laid  in 
that  store  of  knowledge  of  hymns  and  sacred  texts 
and  chapters,  which  she  never  forgot  in  after  times. 
Long,  long  afterwards,  far  away  from  this  place,  in 
years  and  months  of  illness,  in  the  long  nights  when 
she  would  lie  awake  from  pain  and  restlessness 
during  her  last  sickness,  she  would  find  rest  and 
comfort   in   repeating   to   herself  the  hymns  and 


138  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 


passages^  from  Scripture  which  she  had  learned 
in  Alderley  School.  Consider  this,  my  younger 
hearers,  you  who  think  it  time  lost  to  lay  up  in 
your  memory  what  you  will  never  again  have  the 
opportunity  of  gaining,  remember  that,  here  or  at 
your  homes,  you  have,  now  or  never,  the  chance  of 
receiving  what  will  come  back  to  you  with  usury  in 
after  years  ;  that  your  solitary  hours,  )^our  bed  of 
sickness,  will  be  cheered  or  darkened  according  as 
you  have  made  the  most  of  the  one  talent,  small 
though  it  be,  which  God  gives  you  in  the  school  of 
your  childhood. 

From  school  she  passed,  as  so  many  of  you  will 
pass  or  have  passed,  into  service.  For  a  short  time 
she  was  in  the  service  of  your  present  venerable 
Minister.  Then  she  passed  into  the  family  which 
for  the  remaining  thirty-eight  years  of  her  life  she 
never  left.  All  that  she  was  in  that  family  it  is  not 
possible,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  fully  to  speak. 
How  she  was  one  with  them  in  their  joys  and  their 
sorrows,  how  every  change  of  place  and   station 

*  It  may  be  mentioned  that  amongst  the  passages  thus 
learned,  in  which  she  took  special  delight,  were  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  in  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  chapters  of  St. 
Matthew's  Gospel;  the  12th,  13th,  and  14th  chapters  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans ;  and  the  3rd  and  4th  chapters  of 
the  Epistle  to  St.  James. 


SERM.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT.  139 

was  shared  by  her  with  them,  you  know  ahnost  as 
well  as  I  do.  You  know  how,  through  her,  every 
intelligence  which  could  affect  us  was  felt  by  your- 
selves ;  how  in  her  happiness  or  joy  was  reflected 
every  good  or  evil  fortune  which  befell  every 
member  of  the  family,  far  or  near,  old  or  young. 
But  you  can  hardly  tell  how  great  is  the  blessing 
which  such  a  union  between  master  and  servant 
sheds  around  on  all  who  come  within  its  influence. 
To  know  that  in  the  midst  of  that  household  there 
sat  one  who,  through  all  the  changes  and  chances 
of  life,  thought  far  more  of  the  interests  and  com- 
fort and  welfare  of  those  whom  she  served  than  of 
her  own  ;  who  never  thought  of  what  she  wished 
or  liked,  but  only  of  what  they  wished  or  liked  ; 
who  in  all  sickness  and  distress,  in  all  difficulty 
and  prosperity,  in  aU  time  of  our  tribulation,  and 
in  all  time  of  our  wealth,  was  ever  ready  with  a 
bright  smile,  with  a  kind  look,  with  a  wise  word, 
with  a  gentle  touch,  with  a  quick  eye,  to  calm,  to 
cheer,  to  assuage,  to  counsel ;  this  was  indeed  a 
light  shining  in  the  darkness  of  this  evil  world.  It 
was  an  example  to  those  who  served  with  her  to 
see  in  her  what  they  ought  to  be — not  the  servants 
only,  but,  'as  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,'  the  guardians, 
the  friends,  the  support  and  stay  of  the  interests  of 


I40  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 


those  whose  interests  could  not  be  divided  from 
their  own.  It  was  a  never-failing  source  of  refresh- 
ment and  consolation  to  those  whom  she  served, 
that  whatever  else  changed  in  the  world  around, 
or  within  their  circle,  she  was  there,  unchanging 
and  unchangeable.  When  the  heavens  were  dark 
around,  and  when  troubles  came  thick  and  fast,  or 
when  the  '  faithful  seemed  to  fail  from  among  the 
children  of  men,'  one  true  heart  was  there,  to  prove 
that  there  is  a  constancy  and  a  peace  which  the 
world  has  not  given,  and  which  the  world  cannot 
take  away.  It  was  a  living  parable  to  all,  to  remind 
us  that  what  she  was  to  her  earthly  master  we  all 
ought  to  be  and  may  be  to  our  heavenly  Master. 
*  Behold,  even  as  the  eyes  of  servants  look  unto 
the  hand  of  their  masters,  and  as  the  eyes  of  a 
maiden  unto  the  hand  of  her  mistress.'  This  first 
part  of  the  verse  was  the  exact  likeness  of  her  con- 
stant life  ;  would  that  we  could  all  learn  the  con- 
clusion that  the  Psalmist  draws  from  it — '  Even  so 
our  eyes  wait  upon  the  Lord  our  God  until  He 
have  mercy  upon  us.'  "^  In  her  the  two  services 
were  united.  Through  her  earthly  service  she 
wrought  out  her  heavenly  service  also  :  but  how 
forcibly  does  such  an  example  bring  before  us  what 
'  Psalm  cxxiii.  2. 


SERM.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUL   SERVANT.  141 

our  relation  should  be  to  our  heavenly  Father,  of 
whom  'every  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named,' ^ 
making  His  will  our  will,  His  love  our  love.  His 
joy  our  joy.  Bear  this  in  mind,  all  masters  of 
households,  who  have  known  this  or  any  like  ex- 
ample of  fidelity  to  your  interests,  '  knowing  that 
ye  also  hare  a  Master  in  Heaven.'  ^  Beo.r  this  in 
mind  all  ye  that  are  or  will  be  servants,  '  in  shigle- 
ness  of  Jiea7't  as  unto  Christ ' ;  '  not  with  eye-service 
as  men-pleasers,  but  as  servants  of  Christ  doing  the 
will  of  God  from  the  heart :  with  good  ^t!'/// doing 
service  as  to  the  Lo7'd  and  not  to  men  ;  knowing 
that  whatever  good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the  same 
shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord.'  *  Do  not  despise  it, 
do  not  think  it  beneath  you.  The  service  of  men, 
as  the  apostle  thus  tells  you,  may  indeed  be  in  the 
fullest  sense  the  service  of  Christ  :  from  your  ex- 
ample lessons  may  be  taught  which  would  never 
be  taught  by  anything  else  ;  from  your  faithfulness 
in  a  few  things,  those  who  in  this  world  are  rulers 
over  many  things  may  often  learn  lessons  of 
humility,  of  faith,  of  love,  which  in  their  own  sta- 
tions they  might  else  never  have  learned  at  all. 
But  there  was  yet  another  field  in  which  '  our 

8  Eph.  hi.  15.  »  Col.  iv.  i. 

'  t^ph.  vi.  5,  6,  7,  8. 


142  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 

dear  sister  here  departed  '  used  to  the  uttermost  all 
the  talents  that  were  committed  to  her.  '  Our  dear 
sister  here  departed.^  How  touchingly,  how  power- 
fully, must  those  words  have  come  to  the  hearts  of 
those  mourners,  who  stood  round  the  grave  last 
week  !  'Sister,'  indeed,  in  no  common  sense, 
sister  by  all  the  ties  of  earthly  relationship,  sister 
by  all  the  ties  of  Christian  brotherhood,  in  all 
sisterly  and  family  affections  ;  never  ceasing  to  re- 
member the  place  of  her  nativity,  the  home  of  her 
childhood,  the  friends  of  her  youth,  the  father  and 
mother  who  trained  her  in  the  way  that  she  should 
go,  the  brothers  and  sisters  w^hom  she  had  faithfully 
loved,  the  brothers'  children  and  the  sisters' children, 
to  whom  she  became,  as  it  were,  a  second  mother, 
as  they  grew  up  round  about  her.  Others,  often, 
become  faithful  servants  in  distant  households  ;  and 
by  degrees  their  early  haunts  know  them  no  more  ; 
lapse  of  years  and  change  of  place,  without  any 
fault  of  theirs,  loosens,  and  dissolves  the  bond  of 
ancient  natural  affection.  Not  so,  my  brethren, 
not  so  with  her,  whom  you,  as  well  as  we,  have  now 
lost.  Dear  as  were  to  her  the  interests  of  the  family 
which  she  served,  no  less  dear  were  the  interests  of 
the  family  from  which  she  was  born.  She  did  not, 
as  many  do,  make  one  duty  the  excuse  for  neglect- 


SERM.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT.  143 

ing  another  duty ;  she  fulfilled  them  both.  The 
school,  the  church,  the  cottages  of  her  native  parish 
were  always  present  with  her  ;  she  never  lost  her 
old  simple  habits  .  she  always  delighted  to  return 
amongst  you  :  she  wrote  to  her  absent  family,  often 
twice  or  thrice  a  week,  what  they  wished  or  what 
they  needed  to  hear  :  she  always  loved  to  talk  of 
her  early  days,  of  her  home  beside  the  wood,  of 
her  prizes  at  school,  of  her  kinsfolk  and  acquaint- 
ance. I'Ong  and  tenderly  she  ministered  to  her 
aged  mother  :  only  a  few  days  before  her  end,  she 
spoke  to  me  at  length  of  her  father's  goodness  and 
simple  piety,  of  his  daily  prayers  before  he  went 
to  his  work,  of  his  reading  of  the  Bible  by  his  fire- 
side, of  a  rebuke  which  he  had  given  to  her  for  a 
hasty  expression  in  her  childhood,  by  which  she 
had  never  ceased  to  profit.  When  she  came  down 
amongst  you,  )'ou  know  how  she  would  gather  the 
rising  generation  of  her  family  around  her  :  how 
she  VN'ould  give  to  her  little  nephews  and  nieces,  as 
they  stood  beside  her,  words  of  wise  counsel  for 
this  world  and  for  the  next ;  how  she  watched  over 
their  welfare  ;  how  she  guarded  and  guided  them 
onwards  and  forwards  and  upwards.  You  also 
know  how  deeply  she  had  set  her  heart  on  laying 
her  last  remains  amongst  her  own  people,  in  the 


144  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 

grave  of  her  father  and  her  mother.  Long  ago  she 
had  made  those  near  her  promise  that  whenever 
and  wherever  her  last  hour  found  her,  she  should 
be  laid  nowhere  but  here.  And  when  at  last  it  did 
approach  with  certainty,  then  her  longing  for  her 
native  place  grew  stronger  ;  the  recollection  of  the 
churchyard  seemed  to  draw  her  homewards  ;  and 
home  at  last  she  has  been  brought ;  her  mortal 
remains  to  her  home  here  on  earth,  her  spirit  to 
that  home  where  the  weary  are  at  rest  for  ever. 

It  is  not  without  cause  -that  I  speak  of  that 
strong  family  affection.  It  reminds  you  that  she 
was  truly  your  own,  that  whatever  good  she  had 
was  hewn  out  of  the  same  rock,  cast  in  the  same 
mould  as  yourselves ;  what  she  was  you  may  be  ; 
what  she  longed  that  you,  her  younger  kinsfolk, 
might  be,  that,  remembering  her  wishes,  you  ought 
to  become,  and,  with  God's  grace,  you  may  become 
hereafter.  It  reminds  you  also  of  the  value  of 
these  affections  :  honour  them,  cherish  them  ;  they 
are  not  enough  in  themselves  to  guide  us  to  Heaven, 
but  they  are  the  beginning  of  all  heavenly  and  holy 
thoughts.  The  very  desire  which  she  expressed  so 
strongly  to  be  laid  amongst  you,  is  that  same  ancient 
feeling  of  which  you  read  in  the  patriarchs  and 
saints  of  old,  who,  when  dying  in  strange  lands, 


SER^r.  XIV.     THE   FAITHFUL   SERVANT.  145 


charged  that  their  bones  should  be  taken  and 
buried  with  their  fathers  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah, 
in  the  land  of  promise  :  ^  so  that  even  in  death 
their  union  should  not  be  broken.  So  may  it  long 
be  with  you  :  so  may  this  place,  this  church,  this 
cliurchyard,  always  draw  you  to  each  other,  to 
those  who  have  gone  before  us,  and  to  God  in 
Jesus  Ciirist.   .  .  . 

It  was  only  a  short  time  before  her  end,  that 
I  asked  her  one  day  what  was  her  favourite  text 
in  the  Bible.  AVithout  a  moment's  hesitation  she 
answered,  and  dwelt  on  every  word  as  she  repeated 
it :  '  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  My 
yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  Me  ;  for  I  am  meek 
and  lowly  in  heart ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto 
your  souls.  For  My  yoke  is  easy  and  iVly  burden 
is  light.'  We  have  long  known  the  text ;  we  read 
it  often  ;  we  hear  it  often  ;  whenever  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  administered  we  hear  it  : 
it  needs  no  human  recollections  to  add  anything  to 
the  sweet  music  of  its  sounds,  or  to  the  abiding 
strength  of  its  consolations  Yet  even  divine  words 
like  these  may  be  brought  nearer  home  to  every 
one  of  us,  if  we  have  seen  their  comfort  and  theii 
-  Gen.  xlix.  29,  30  ;  1.  25. 

L 


146  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 


truth  exemplified  in  any  one  whom  we  ourselves 
have  known. 

Ponder  well  the  words  ;  and  how  naturally  do 
they  recall  the  image  of  her  whose  stay  and  support 
they  had  become.  'All  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden.'  How  exacdy  does  this  describe  her 
outward  form  and  manner  of  life  !  Think  of  her 
failing  strength,  her  frequent  pains,  her  slow  step, 
vainly  striving  to  keep  pace  with  her  active  spirit ; 
think,  especially  as  years  advanced,  of  the  toil  and 
difficulty  with  which  she  dragged  along  her  weary 
limbs,  heavy  laden  with  ever-increasing  infirmity  ; 
think  of  the  brave  struggle  with  which,  under  all 
this  burden,  she  yet  laboured  and  travailed  to  the 
last.  Yet  this  life,  so  full  as  it  might  have  seemed 
of  pain  and  misery,  was  a  life  of  true  and  constant 
happiness.  Think  of  her  once  more  :  and  you  will 
see  that  she  had  indeed  come  to  Him  who  said  '  I 
will  give  you  rest,'  '  I  will  refresh  you.'  Think 
of  that  patient,  contented,  ever-orightening  smile  ; 
think  of  those  kind,  cheering,  happy  words,  always 
ready  for  those  who  came  in  and  went  out  amongst 
us  ;  recall  her  as  she  passed  to  and  fro  amongst  her 
kindred  here,  always  bent  on  doing  some  little 
act  of  thoughtful  goodness,  never  forgetting,  never 
omitting  any  :  recall  her  as  she  sat  silent  and  com- 


SERM.  XIV.      THE  FAITHFUL   SERVANT.  147 

posed  in  her  chair,  plying  her  daily  task  or  turning 
over  the  leaves  of  her  little  hymn-book  or  prayer- 
book  ;  remember  the  ^alm  resignation  with  which, 
without  fear,  without  excitement,  she  was  ever  ex- 
pecting her  latter  end ;  ever  thankful  for  the  mercies 
she  had  enjoyed  through  life,  ever  filled  with  the 
thought  that  the  daily  words  of  parting  for  her 
evening  rest  might  be  for  the  last  time  ;  and  you 
will  indeed  see  that  hers  was  the  happiness  and 
peace  of  one  who  had  found  '  rest  to  her  soul ' 
where  only  it  can  be  found. 

And  how  she  had  sought  and  found  it  ?  Still 
the  words  of  her  text  guide  us.  She  had  '  taken 
His  yoke  upon  her,'  she  had  learned  of  Him  who 
was  '  meek  and  lowly  of  heart'  Humbly,  faithfully, 
lovingly, — in  childhood,  in  youth,  in  age, — in  all  the 
intercourse  of  life,  she  had  striven  to  take  upon  her 
the  yoke  of  His  words,  of  His  commandments,  of 
His  will.  Steadily,  firmly,  she  strove  to  be  guided 
in  all  things,  not  by  her  own  pleasure,  not  by  her 
convenience,  not  by  her  feelings,  but  by  a  fixed 
sense  of  duty,  of  truth,  of  justice,  of  honest  and 
loving  obedience  ;  as  ever  in  the  presence  of  Him 
who  is  '  without  variableness  or  shadow  of  turning,' 
in  the  service  of  Him  who,  as  she  delighted  to 
remember,  was  '  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday, 

L  2 


148  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 

and  to  day,  and  for  ever.'  ^  And  this  she  did,  labour- 
ing to  be  like  Him  in  all  '  meekness  and  lowliness 
of  heart.'  Loved,  honoured,  esteemed  as  she  was  by 
all  around  her,  she  never  rose  above  her  station  ; 
she  never  joined  together  things  that  were  incon- 
gruous or  unsuitable  ;  she  never  grasped  at  power, 
or  wealth,  or  consideration  for  herself;  she  bore 
always  the  same  simple,  humble  heart,  that  she 
brought  with  her  from  her  early  childhood.  By 
her  lowliness  only  she  was  exalted  ;  by  her  meek- 
ness only  she  '  inherited  the  earth.'  ^ 

And  of  her  most  truly  it  may  be  said,  that  '  His 
yoke  w\is  easy,  and  His  burden  was  light.'  You 
who  are  young,  you  who  are  in  full  enjoyment  of 
health  and  life,  and  spirits,  you  who  think  that  a 
serious  and  religious  hfe  must  be  mournful  and 
difficult,  that  the  Lord  whom  you  are  called  upon 
to  serve  is  an  '  austere  and  hard  Master,  reaping 
where  he  has  not  sown,  and  gathering  where  he  has 
not  strawed '  ;  "^  look  at  w^hat  you  know,  remember 
w^hat  you  have  heard,  of  her  who  is  gone  from  us. 
There  was  indeed  much  to  make  her  life  sad  ; 
much,  as  I  have  said,  of  pain  and  suffering  ;  much 
of  sorrow  and  mourning  for  the  loss  of  those  she 

^  Heb.  xii.  8.     This  was  also  a  favourite  text  of  hers. 
^  Matt.  V.  5.  ^  Matt.  xxv.  24 ;  Luke  xix.  21. 


SERM.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT  149 

dearly  loved ;  for  the  parting  from  scenes  and 
places  where  she  had  struck  deep  root  ^  much  of 
anxious  care  that  her  duty  might  be  fully  performed. 
But  every  one  who  knew  her  will  say,  as  she  herself 
often  said,  that  her  life  had  been  full  of  happiness 
No  innocent  enjoyment  passed  within  her  reach, 
but  that  it  lighted  up  her  face  with  a  cheerful 
gleam  ;  no  means  of  adding  to  the  comfort  and 
pleasure  of  others  was  ever  neglected  by  her  ;  to 
smooth  down  family  trouble,  to  promote  every- 
where agreement  and  good-will,  and  brotherly  and 
sisterly  affection,  was  her  constant  aim.  And  the 
pleasure  she  gave  to  others  was  reflected  back  on 
herself.  They,  who  live  for  others  and  not  for 
themselves,  are  always  rewarded  by  this  very  thing  ; 
even  if  they  have  no  joy  themselves,  they  rejoice 
in  the  joy  of  others  ;  the  health  of  others,  the 
prosperity  of  others,  the  peace  of  others,  becomes 
to  them  as  it  were  in  the  place  of  their  own  health, 
covers  their  own  adversity,  enlightens  their  own 
obscurity  ;  like  the  apostle,  of  whom  we  have  read 
in  this  day's  service  ;  ^  '  as  unknown,  and  yet  w^ell 
known  ;  as  sorrowful,  yet  alway  rejoicing  ;  as  poor, 
yet  making  many  rich  ;  as  having  nothing,  yet 
possessing  all  things.'  But  more  than  this,  there 
^  2  Cor.  vi.  9,  10. 


T50  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT     serm.  xiv. 

was  the  joy  within  ;  '  the  peace  '  of  those  '  whose 
mind  is  stayed  on  God.'  It  is  the  special  blessing 
of  the  yoke  of  Christ,  not  only  that  it  is  easy,  but 
that  it  makes  all  other  things  easy  ;  it  is  the  special 
blessing  of  the  burden  of  Christ  that  it  is  not  only 
light  itself,  but  that  it  makes  all  other  things  light. 
So  it  was  with  her.  Because  she  had  taken  upon 
her  the  yoke  of  Christ,  therefore  the  yoke  of  service, 
which  some  find  heavy  and  grating  and  painful, 
was  to  her  easy  and  delightful ;  because  she  had 
taken  upon  her  the  burden  of  Christ,  therefore  the 
burden  of  care  and  the  burden  of  sickness  and 
suffering,  became  but  as  '  a  light  affliction,  which 
was  but  for  a  moment,  working  for  her  a  far  more 
exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.'  ^  All  around 
partook  of  the  heaven  which  was  within  :  there  was 
no  struggle  against  itself,  for  self  was  swallowed  up 
in  faith  and  love. 

In  the  35th  8  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Genesis 
you  may  read  a  touching  scene  in  the  story  of  the 
Patriarch  Jacob,  which  bears  witness  how  from  the 
earliest  times  all  respect  has  been  paid  to  such  long 
and  honourable  service  as  that  of  which  we  are 
speaking.  He  had  been  a  far  wanderer  in  a  strange 
country  :  he  had  seen  many  changes  of  good  and 
'  2  Cor.  iv.  17.  8  Verses  6,  7,  8. 


SEioi.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUL   SERVANT.  151 

evil  fortune,  many  forms  of  human  character  ;  he 
had  come  back  to  his  native  land  ;  with  his  staff  he 
had  crossed  over  the  Jordan  many  years  before, 
and  now  he  had  become  two  mighty  bands  :  and 
he  came  to  Bethel  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  'the 
place  where  God  appeared  to  him  when  he  fled 
from  the  face  of  his  brother.'  There  he  halted,  in 
the  middle  stage  of  his  journey  ;  in  the  middle 
stage  of  the  years  of  his  pilgrimage  through  life  ; 
and  there,  we  are  told,  '  Deborah,  Rebekah's  nurse,' 
the  nurse  that  had  come  with  his  mother  from  her 
own  people  years  before,  '  she  died  and  she  was 
buried  beneath  Bethel,  under  an  oak,  and  the  name 
of  it  was  called  Allon  Bachuth,  that  is,  the  oak  of 
weeping.'  Many  griefs  had  befallen  him  in  times 
past— many  griefs  were  yet  to  befall  him  in  times 
to  come.  But  this  grief  was  not  to  be  forgotten. 
Under  the  old  gray  stones  which  had  been  set  up 
in  Bethel,  the  '  house  of  God,'  where  he  first  awoke 
to  a  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  his  Lord 
and  ^laker  ;  under  the  shade  of  the  aged  oak-tree 
which  from  generation  to  generation  had  spread 
and  would  still  spread  its  branches  over  the  con- 
secrated spot,  the  faithful  servant  of  his  father's 
house  was  laid  ;  and  the  memory  of  the  spot  was 
long  preserved,  and  under  the  oak  of   Deborah, 


152  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 

beside  the  house  of  God,  in  many  a  distant  time, 
the  wayfarer  would  often  rest,  and  remember  the 
name  of  her  whose  remains  reposed  beneath.'-^ 
Even  so,  my  brethren,  long  may  that  spot  be  known 
and  remembered  where  the  faithful  friend  and 
servant  of  many  years  has  been  laid  beside  the 
well-known  tree,  under  the  ancient  tower,  in  that 
quiet  and  secluded  corner,  which  she  knew  and 
loved  so  well,  in  the  grave  of  her  parents  and  her 
kindred. 

But  let  us  think  not  only  of  the  earthly  grave 
and  its  earthly  sorrows  ;  let  us  think  of  all  which 
that  grave  is  intended  to  teach  us  ;  v/hat  thoughts 
not  only  of  sorrow,  but  of  joy  and  comfort  and 
heavenly  hope  we  may  carry  away  with  us,  when- 
ever we  pass  by  it,  or  whenever  we  think  of  her 
who  there  sleeps  her  last  sleep.  It  was  indeed 
when  we  stood  beside  it  last  week,  what  Jacob 
called  the  grave  of  Deborah—'  the  oak  of  weeping' 
— '  the  oak  of  tears/  But  it  may  also  be  to  those 
who  view  it  rightly,  'the  oak  of  gladness,'  '  the  gate 
of  Heaven '  ; — the  entrance  into  that  joy  which 
shall  never  pass  away. 

It  costs  us  all  a  pang  when  standing  at  the  open 
grave  which  is  to  receive  the  last  remains  of  any 
^  I  Sam.  X.  3  ;   I  Kings  xiii.  14. 


SERM.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUI^  SERVANT.  153 

near  and  dear  to  us,  to  *  give  our  hearty  thatiks  to 
God  for  their  deliverance  from  the  miseries  of  this 
sinful  world.'  Yet  when  we  consider  in  any  case — 
when  we  consider  in  her  case — what  those  miseries 
are  from  which  she  is  now  for  ever  set  free,  we  shall 
be  able  to  feel  that  the  loss  we  so  deplore  is  yet  a 
cause  of  thanksgiving.  Think  what  she  has  been 
spared  ;  think  of  her  '  deliverance  from  the  burden^ 
as  it  was  fast  becoming,  the  burden  of  the  weak  and 
suffering  flesh  :  think  of  the  successive  pangs  which 
would  have  entered  like  iron  into  that  loving  and 
devoted  soul,  had  she  lived,  as  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  human  things  she  might  have  lived,  to 
see  one  by  one  the  departure  of  those  whom  she 
so  loved  and  served  on  earth.  Think  also  of  the 
deliverance,  for  which  she,  if  she  could  but  speak, 
would  give  the  deepest  thanksgiving  of  all  ;  the 
deliverance  from  all  those  little  infirmities,  trials, 
temptations,  with  which  even  the  best  and  most 
saint-like  of  us  are  compassed  about  in  this  morta. 
.life.  It  is  the  peculiar  trial  of  characters  like  hers, 
that  they  cannot  bear  to  see  anything  done  by 
others  which  they  can  by  any  possibility  do  them- 
selves. In  some  this  may  arise  from  other  causes 
— from  love  of  power,  from  jealousy,  from  mistrust. 
In  her  this  infirmity,  so  to  call  it,  was  occasioned 


154  THE  FAITHFUL   SERVANT,     serm.  xiv 


not  by  reasons  of  this  kind,  but  by  the  exactness, 
the  nicety,  the  eagerness,  of  her  desire  to  see  all 
done  in  the  best  way  in  which  she  thought  it  could 
be  done  ;  from  her  great  unwillingness,  also,  ever 
to  take  from  others  that  service  and  that  trouble, 
which  she  thought  it  to  be  her  station  and  duty 
always  to  be  rendering,  never  to  be  receiving.  She 
knew  well  that  she  had  this  trial  ;  and  she  spoke 
with  humble  hope  that  He  who  is  perfecdy  just, 
and  who  knew  whereof  she  was  made,  would  judge 
and  receive  her,  according  to  that  '  faithfulness  and 
truth,'  in  which  she  put  her  entire  trust.  But  from 
this  and  all  like  trials,  from  this  craving,  never 
satisfied,  after  perfection  on  earth,  we  may  feel  sure 
that  she  is  especially  dehvered  in  that  world  to 
which  she  has  gone.  There  they  '  w^ho  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness '  are  blessed,  for  there 
their  longings  shall  at  last  be  filled.  There  she 
will  no  more  vex  her  righteous  soul  witli  the  sight 
of  good  which  she  cannot  accomplish,  and  of  evil 
which  she  cannot  prevent.  There  she  will  no  more 
be  fretted  by  the  thought  of  ministrations  imper- 
fectly rendered,  by  the  sight  of  good  designs  half 
finished.  In  that  better  world  there  is  no  pavement 
strewed  with  good  intentions  unfulfilled  ;  in  that 
world  there  will  be  no  let  or  hindrance  to  the  full 


SERM.  XIV.     THE  FAITHFUL   SERVANT.  155 


service  always  given  with  all  the  energy  of  that 
love,  which,  as  the  apostle  tells  us,  '  never  fails  ' ' — 
*  for  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  in 
it ,  and  His  scrvajits  shall  serve  Hivi.^  ^  Yes,  my 
brethren,  dim  and  distant,  and  'seen  through  a 
glass  darkly,'  are  all  our  notions  of  another  world. 
Yet,  if  anything  be  certain  respecting  it,  this  is 
certain,  that  according  to  our  faithfulness  in  a  few 
things  here,  will  be  our  rule  over  many  things  there. 
Her  last  words,  uttered  as  if  with  a  consciousness 
that  her  end  was  at  hand,  as  she  retired  to  rest  on 
her  last  night,  were,  '  My  tvork  is  done.''  Done  it 
was,  '  well  done '  on  earth ,  but  not  done,  rather 
still  to  be  continued,  and  begun  afresh,  in  the 
eternal  state  beyond. 

In  this  world,  our  faculties,  our  gifts,  our  talents, 
are  limited  by  outward  circumstance,  by  humble 
station,  by  small  fields  of  duty.  ^lany  who  have 
acquired  a  great  name  in  history  have  gained  it  not 
because  they  were  better  or  wiser  than  others,  but 
only  because  they  had  here  greater  and  wider  op- 
portunities. Not  so  in  the  world  to  come.  There 
the  spirits  of  all  will  find  their  appointed  services. 
Our  heavenly  home  has  room  and  verge  enough 
for  all  the  energy  which  in  this  narrow  spot  of  earth 
'  I  Cor.  xiii.  8.  -  Rev.  xxii. 


156  THE  FAITHFUL  SERVANT,     serm.  xiv. 

has  been  cramped  and  shackled  down.  In  our 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions  ;  ^  and  in  one 
or  more  of  those  many  mansions  the  ever-increas- 
ing '  number  of  His  elect '  will,  in  ways  which  eye 
hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard,  fulfil  their  Father's 
will.  Then  will  be  seen  that  union  of  rest  and 
labour,  of  repose  and  active  energy,  in  this  world 
vainly  though  earnestly  sought  by  all  the  true 
disciples  of  Him  to  whom  rest  and  work  are  one. 
Both  will  then  be  possible  ;  of  both,  we  have  the 
promise  in  those  strains,  few  and  far  betw^een,  which 
reach  us  from  that  higher  state.  On  the  one  hand, 
we  '  hear  a  voice  from  heaven  saying,  Blessed  are 
the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  ;  for  they  rest  from 
their  labours  : '  '*  on  the  other  hand,  w^e  see  a  vision 
as  of  living  creatures  '  round  about  the  throne,  which 
rest  not  day  and  night  ;  and  give  glory  and  honour 
and  thanks  to  Him  that  sits  on  the  throne,  who 
liveth  for  ever  and  ever.'-^  And  again  we  hear  the 
sweet  plaintive  tones  of  a  still  small  voice^  which 
saith,  '  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest '  ;  ^  but  it  is 
mingled  with  the  stirring,  cheering,  strengthening 
sounds,  '  as  it  were  of  a  trumpet  talking  with  us '  :  ^ 

^  John  xiv.  2.  •»  Rev.  xiv.  13.         ^  Rev.  iv.  8. 

«  Matt.  xi.  28.  '  Rev.  iv.  i, 


SERM.  XIV.      THE  FAITHFUL   SERVANT  157 

'  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant  :  thou  hast 
been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee 
ruler  over  many  things.  Enter  thou  into  the  joy 
of  thy  Lord.'  ^ 

8  Matt.  XXV. 


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